In today’s post, I’m taking a cue from Ju-Lyn and Brian to reflect on The Changing Seasons. In my part of the world, the seasons have literally changed from Spring to Summer and in this post, I’ll scope my reflections to that 🙂
June was my first full month on Vancouver Island and the Pacific air has been refreshing after the long winter in Toronto. British Columbia has had an unusually cold and wet Spring but finally in late June, warm and sunny days heralded the beginning of Summer.
A longer Spring has had an effect on vegetation and wildlife. I missed seeing the red and blue berries that should’ve lined my walks through the forest. Berries are an essential part of the black bear diet and I wonder what else have they been eating.
News reports say that more bears have been venturing into human territory looking for food. In Whistler Village (a mountain resort area on the mainland) a TikTok video on June 20, showed a black bear casually strolling through a crowded main street, presumably in search of ice cream.
While the video is amusing to watch, it is not reporting a good thing. Bears who are habituated to people begin to associate food with them.
“(When bears) … lose their fear of people … there’s only one outcome for a bear” Generally, that outcome is a death sentence.
– B.C Conservation Officers Service
In my little town there used to be regular reports of black bear sightings. In previous years, I’d get hourly notifications if a bear was seen on the streets close to my home. This year it’s been quiet.
Why? I suspect it’s to do with the number of bears killed last year.
According to this report 11 bears were put down in 2021, after an unusually high number of them broke into structures storing garbage. In May, there was public outcry when people learned that 77 young bears were euthanized by Tofino conservation officers in 2021.
Nobody wants to be responsible for a dead bear. “A reported bear is a dead bear” someone said.
So maybe folks have stopped reporting bears.
Maybe too, people have finally learned to secure garbage in bear-proofed containers. Unsecured garbage is the #1 attractant for bears in communities. If there’s no food to be found, they’ll hunt in the wild.
In any event, the only bears I’ve seen this year, have been on drives through the mountain pass.
This big fella was half way across the road when he saw our car-lights approaching. We slowed down to give him time to re-consider. With a lumbering turn, he ambled off the road and back into the safety of the woods.
The Sandy Chronicles 
I see what you mean about Ucluelet being the polar opposite of Toronto! Thank you for allowing us a peek into this lovely part of your world! including that Black Bear encounter – it would be too close for comfort for this City-Dweller.
Thank you for checking in at The Changing Seasons!
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I love to see bears but only where they belong, well away from towns. We saw one on that road across the island when we visited and I was so pleased I had my camera to hand in the car! But I wouldn’t want to have seen one wander into Tofino, either for the bear’s sake or the people’s.
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I think most people would agree. Some though, are thoughtless & more than a little stupid in what they do. For instance, in the video, you’ll see people stopping ot take pictures of the bear walking 5 feet in front of them!
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Yes, the bears are going to get the short end of the stick every time. We encroach on their territory, leave stuff around that will bring them back in to it, then shoot them for their ‘dangerous behavior.’ However, I’m surprised how many bears were killed by the authorities in your area. Is that their only response?
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It seems like it was an unusually high kill rate, especially for the young bears. In previous years, they practised entrapment & relocation but apparently that doesn’t work. They either fare worse with territorial battles with other bears or they find their way back.
If we lived closer to a city, some would say the issue is our encroachment. It’s not really true here as in the last 5 years, there hasn’t been any housing expansion. A more likely explanation is that warmer winters mean shorter hibernation, bigger litters and more bears. Changes in weather patterns have domino effect on wild life cycles.
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I feel awful for the bears 😦
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Me too.
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Hi. When you move from Toronto to Vancouver Island, and vice versa, do you drive or fly?
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One day we will do the cross-country trek by car but that’ll probably be a one-of event.
Normally we’ll take a long-haul flight from Toronto to Vancouver (5hrs) and then in a commuter flight from Vancouver to Tofino (45mins) All in all, it’s a full day of travel but it’s shorter than five days it’d take to drive.
Why do you ask Neil?
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No particular reason. The thought just popped into my head for some reason.
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When I first came to Canada, I used to marvel at the very Canadian tradition of escaping the city and going to ‘cottage country’ during the summer. I’d hear about their long drives to Muskoka, the traffic jams on the highways out of the city; battles with black flies & mosquitoes; cottage invasions by animals and pests … and I’d wonder Why?? Forty years later and I’m a true Canadian, with my own summer retreat from the city 😉 Nowadays it’s a toss-up as to which is worse – traffic going out of the city or congestion in the airport.
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We’re encroaching on the habitats of many animals
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What kind of (non-human) wildlife do you have Sheree?
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Not a lot where I live unless you count the odd fox or wild boar but head into the Niçois hinterland and you’ll find wolves, marmots, all sorts of deer and goats.
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Deer kill more people in the US than any other animal. People don’t shoot deer that wander onto a highway.
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Why would they shoot deer anyway?
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One feels sorry for the bears. They are like the kangaroos in our suburb. We are in their habitat and they are the losers.
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Do kangaroos pose a threat Amanda? Here, wild deers wander around town and nobody minds them. They’re a hazard to backyard garden but otherwise are not a nuisance. I believe their biggest threatis that they can carry ticks.
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Kangaroos are only a threat to cars, Sandy although a large one can give you a good kick if they so wished.
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In the remote areas, we have a similar problem with deer, moose and elk.
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That is rather a nice problem in some ways.
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