Re: Sundre-area residents want black bear relocated
After the scathing report and condemnation of a poor black bear on the front page of the recent Albertan, just trying to prepare for hibernation, I feel someone needs to advocate for him; not that I am an ideological bear lover – hunting has its place, don’t get me wrong.
I see those large signs telling me that I’m in bear country; are they just there to decorate road sides or to give us a heads-up to be prepared and act accordingly?
Cougar Creek? Someone once defined a subdivision as an area of land from which we exterminate the animals and vegetation, then name it in their memory; sounds about right.
The Mountain View Bear Smart Society has been conducting an ongoing campaign on how to deal with bears of both species for a couple of decades now, but it seems the stupid and lazy among us can’t be bothered, that’s the problem.
Bears respond to attractants; eliminate those and they will move on. They have an agenda with a time limit, give them an excuse to hang around and they will.
This particular bear has been travelling for months in that area and hasn’t created any problems – only some excitement – until he apparently found reason to target this particular residence.
Looking at the garbage cans in the background of the trail camera shot, it seems he found a reason to hang around; can’t blame him for that.
Relocation is always a poor option with a low success rate; a last resort short of destroying the offending animal. Either they come into conflict with other bears or create more human conflict.
This close to hibernation, that bear would probably be unable to adjust to his new surroundings as well, so he’d likely not survive. The mantra is, a fed bear is a dead bear.
By the time this letter makes the paper, he will probably have solved the problem by sleeping for the next seven months. Another First World problem dealt with.
PS: A 500-pound black bear would be a monster, more likely about half that. Pardon me while I have a laugh.
Hans Ullmann,
Harmattan
