I mentioned I live in wild country, where there are wolves, cougars and bears?
Oh deer, too!
The deer are not a hazard, unless you’re gardener. But bears can be a problem.
Ucluelet has a Bear Advisory in effect and a community Facebook page keeps us informed (and alarmed) when there’s a bear in the neighborhood.
A recent sampling of posts in the community page :
July 18 at 8:27 PM Bear is trying to get into the garbage at the Brown’s Beach parking lot.
July 18 at 5:09 PM Five o’clock just scared a bear out of my yard, be bear aware……
July 18 at 5:09 PM Bear was just in our backyard on Lorne White Place. It went running towards the Raven route trail.
My concern was less academic when I plotted the locations on the map. All within 10 minutes from my house.
I resolved to not take out the garbage that night and confirmed that all the doors and windows were locked. I figured our place was safe. After all, our condo was on the second floor. Cue me, paging through a list of photos on Facebook.
Apparently, bears can climb.
Hmmm. OK. Double check: Front and Deck doors are locked.
Ding! New Facebook post coming in:
Today at 7:51pm Large bear just crossing Peninsula Road in between tourists by Pacific Rim Motel…
Peninsula Road is the main street running through town. I wonder if the tourists minded the bear crossing between them. It’s funny! Well, maybe not.
The problem is that bears should be afraid of humans. When they’re not and they start meandering through the town, they become a danger to people and themselves.
So what do you do, if you see a bear? Pick up your kids, hold onto your pet and talk in a low, calm voice. Eh? Explain that you’re leaving his area and back away without staring him in the eye. And if it’s not male a bear? Hope that baby bear is in day-care.
Ucluelet, BC. July 2018
The Sandy Chronicles 