Bears are omnivores, meaning they eat anything — including, if they get the chance to get their big paws on it, bird feed.
This week, a Kelowna, B.C., resident captured a bear eating seed from a neighbour’s bird feeder.
Paige Thompson recorded the hungry bruin on Tuesday afternoon, not far from her hillside home in the Lower Mission.
According to Thompson, a local realtor, the bear wound up feeding on three bird feeders.
“He was there for quite some time,” Thompson told Global News, adding she called the B.C. Conservation Office about the sighting.
Thompson said she’s been living at her current home for two years, and that deer are regularly seen, but that this was her first bear sighting in the area.
Thompson said the bear hung around the hillside munching on seed for around 30 minutes before moseying out of sight.
According to the provincial government, bird seed will attract bears, as they are a source of protein.
The government says if you decide on feeding birds during bear season, consider the below steps to minimize conflicts between bears and humans.
- Take bird feeders in at night.
- Keep the ground underneath the feeders clean and free of bird seed.
- Fill your feeders regularly with just a small amount of feed, which will decrease the reward a bear would receive if it does get to your feeder.
For more about bears, including encounters and managing conflicts, click here.