Bear season has started

At exactly the same time as last year, we have seen our first neighbourhood bear, named George.

Bear season refers to the time of year when bears are not hibernating, usually April to November on the North Shore. Low temperatures and snow cause them to seek shelter. However, bears only hibernate when their food supply runs out. Once in a while, a few bears may not hibernate and some neighbourhoods will need to remain bear-proof year round.

We have not seen the bears since the end of August. A couple of weeks ago, we saw the first signs going up in our neigbourhood, “WARNING – Bear sighting in this area” and the second week of May we saw George again. He already visited us one night, when Rudi forgot to put the garbage in the garage, the next morning we could pick up our garbage, which was nicely spread out all over our yard. We have given him a lecture, forgetting the garbage can result in the bear getting killed. Last year, 5 bears were killed on the North Shore, sadly 3 of them were Mother bear and her 2 cubs which we’d seen when we just arrived at our rental place. She attacked one of the neighbours and could not be chased away anymore. Our landlady  had kilos of organic vegetables and fruit in her shed, which obviously attracted the bears. When they are not afraid of people anymore or in some way become a threat they have to exterminate them. On average over a thousand bears are killed every year in BC.

We are making sure that our garbage is always behind the garage door and is only put out 10 minutes before pickup, I think everybody in our street does the same, still George comes for his strolls through our street, mostly in the evenings or at night, but sometimes during the day. We are used to it now and it is such a magnificant animal, he does disappear when you make noise. We are living in his territory, you cannot blame him for roaming our streets and certainly not kill him. Nobody in our street ever calls the RCMP or the conservation manager (as far as I know), simply because you do not want him to be killed. 

Video from youtube – Three bears in North Vancouver