Big black bear found hibernating beneath Salmon Arm mobile home

A black bear roused briefly from its winter slumber attracted a lot of attention this week, surprising neighbours who are now waiting to see when he will make another appearance.

The bear was spotted by the granddaughter of a couple who lives in a Salmon Arm mobile home park on the evening of March 31,  Eric Tayukodi, a BC Conservation officer said.

“She looked over and said, ‘Oh, look – bear!'” Tayukodi said.  “They didn’t believe her but they backed up (their car) and, there underneath one of the units in the mobile home park, was a black bear with its head and its four legs sticking out from a hole that was in the side of  one of the units.”

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The family called BC Conservation and when they showed up the bear appeared to have gone back underneath the mobile home.

“What we think happened was it was hibernating under there and it woke up, which they do occasionally during the winter,” Tayukodi said.

“It was kind of rainy, and later in the evening, it turned into kind of a sleet-snow mix. So, somehow, it woke up and it probably felt the temperature get colder and it went back to sleep.”

They believe it went back into hibernation so now it’s a waiting game.

BC Conservation officers have a bear trap set up for it right now because they don’t want it wandering around a populated trailer park.

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“We have several other residents who are watching the trap right now as well as the resident living in the unit it’s set at,” he said.

No one has heard from it since the trap was set but it’s bound to wake up soon.

“Once it gets to be around that 10 C mark continuously for five, six days, that’s generally what triggers them to wake up,” Tayukodi said.

“At nighttime, unfortunately, it is still going down to the negative. So that’s a factor for sure.”

They’ve also told park residents to keep their garbage locked up, in the meantime.