The Regional District of Central Okanagan is reminding residents to be bear aware over the next several weeks, as bears could become more prevalent in parks and communities before getting ready to hibernate.
“We have many creeks with salmon spawning which is a food source, and on the way down we’ve got orchards and vineyards with ripening fruit, so we tend to see the bears stocking up for winter and building up their food source,” explained RDCO communications officer, Bruce Smith.
“Its very normal for this time of year.”
Before hibernating during the winter, bears go through what’s called hyperphagia — a process that sees the animals eat up to 20,000 calories a day by eating and drinking almost non-stop.
“They end up wandering into our urban areas because they have a really good sense of smell. They can smell from over a kilometre away, so they end up wandering in because of the attractants that we have,” said WildSafe BC community coordinator, Lauren Wishart.
Wishart says a great way to stay bear aware is by keeping attractants out of smell-range from bears.
“They will be wandering into town looking for garbage, or for fruit trees, berry trees,” said Wishart.
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“If we have smelly barbeques, if we’re feeding our dogs outside, and there’s pet food outside, we really want to make sure that we’re managing all those attractants so that they aren’t being attracted.”
The RDCO also offers a limited supply of bear-resistant garbage bins. The bins can be purchased for $75 including delivery.
“The feedback that we’ve had thus far has been very positive,” stated RDCO waste reduction facilitator, Rae Stewart.
“They are a type of cart that requires a fair bit (of) resident engagement, meaning you can’t just roll them out to the curb and leave them (to) sit there. You have to lock them up again and unlock them on garbage day, so you have to step up a little bit.”
If you plan on exploring the outdoor Okanagan scenery this fall, there are ways to avoid a potentially dangerous encounter with a bear. It all starts with making lots of noise.
“Bears are quite skittish, and they don’t want to have an encounter so if they hear you come, they’re likely to go another way,” Wishart said.
If you do end up coming within close proximity to a bear, remember to never run. Simply stop, turn around and walk the other way.
For more information on how to be bear aware this fall, click here.
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