A Clearwater man chased a black bear from his garage after he found the animal rustling through his recycling and garbage.
Todd Leppky said the incident happened shortly after midnight on Thursday, Feb. 26, on Musgrave Road. He explained he heard something in the garage and assumed it may have been a person trying to steal something. He went to check and much to his surprise, he found not a human burglar but a black bear, who had knocked over his recycling and garbage can. In a Facebook post, he said it was a “good sized bear.”
“At this point, he was only about 10 feet away. I yelled and waved the bat and he turned and ran,” Leppky said.
“I gave chase until he reached the end of our driveway, and from that point I stayed at the end of the driveway, continuing to haze him until he reached Camp 2 road and crossed over into the trees.”
He said he thought the bear might have been the same one he saw hanging around in the fall, adding that the bear doesn’t have a lot of fear of humans.
“To be clear, he has never acted aggressive. He just doesn’t seem to have a lot of fear, he seems somewhat conditioned to humans.”
Leppky said the bear got in through an open garage door, as he was not expecting bears to be up yet. He said it was the earliest he’s seen a bear out.
Matthew Henry, a Clearwater Conservation oOficer, said it’s not uncommon for black bears denning near communities to be active throughout the denning period, especially if there is food available like garbage.
“Black bears will come and go regularly from the den,” Henry said.
He said if residents see a bear, they should give the animal space by slowly backing away and making as much noise as possible.
Speaking to bear-proofing property, Henry said when the public does not manage attractants, it can create unsafe interactions with bears. In the majority of black bear reports, he said, garbage is the reported attractant.
There are other attractants, however, like pet food, barbecues, bird feeders, fruit trees, berry bushes, and livestock that also draw black bears into residential areas, he said.
“It is important to ensure anything with a scent that could attract bears is secured.”
Henry offered several ways to manage attractants.
He said to keep garbage secure at all times, ideally indoors or in a secure structure, keeping it tightly closed to reduce smells. Approved bear-resistant containers can be used, he said, but garbage is still best stored inside or secured to a post with a chain. People should not set garbage out the night before, as that is when bears are most likely to be active, he said. If a person is unable to store garbage securely, smelly items can be frozen and added to the bin on the morning of collection. Henry said to reduce smells by regularly cleaning waste and recycling bins, and always making sure recyclables are clean before adding them to the bin.
“We live in bear habitat. All community members share the responsibility of reducing conflicts with bears by securing attractants and preventing bears from becoming food-conditioned in the first place,” Henry said.
To report bear conflicts and aggressive bear behaviour, the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) line can be reached at 1-877-952-7277.
For more information on wildlife conflict reduction and safety around black bears, visit wildsafebc.com.
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