Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Friday, May 04, 2007
FORT SIMPSON - Spring brings lots of things to the Deh Cho including bears fresh out of hibernation.
A number of bears have already been spotted near Fort Simpson including one on April 24 around 9 p.m. that was seen crossing the causeway and heading towards the dump, said Carl Lafferty, a renewable resources officer.
Safety Tips
Try not to walk alone at night or in the early morning when bears are most active.
Never feed a bear
Watch for tell-tale signs such as tracks, droppings and claw-marks on trees.
Make noise while hiking and if you have a dog make sure it's on a leash.
Photograph bears from a distance
For more tips, get a copy of the Safety in Grizzly Bear and Black Bear Country booklet from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
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Lafferty is reminding residents to be cautious and start taking precautions. To help keep residents safe the nuisance bear reporting line is already open, but with a new name and bigger purpose.
Following the example of other regions, the purpose of the line has been broadened to accept reports on all types of emergencies involving animals, not just bears. The new line is called the Deh Cho Wildlife Emergency line.
Spring is a high-risk time for bears because they may be waking up hungry from hibernation. Spring is also mating season for the animals, he said.
Because garbage attracts bears, Lafferty encourages residents to place their garbage out the morning it'll be collected rather than let it sit and provide an invitation for bears.
Last year people didn't take as much care with their garbage and bears raided a lot of bins especially on Wild Rose and Antoine Drive, he said. Last year the number of nuisance bears was higher than usual, said Lafferty.
A total of 19 had to be destroyed compared to an average of 15 over the past few years.
"That was kind of high," he said.
Because bears are attracted to garbage and the village's landfill site provides a large selection, building a fence around the landfill is an option, said Lafferty.
"It's a start," he said.
A fence, however, wouldn't immediately lower the number of nuisance bears, Lafferty said.
There would be a two to three year transition period after a fence is built until a new generation of bears that have not used the dump and tasted garbage is raised, he said.
"Once they've been taught it's like drugs," said Lafferty about the effect of garbage on bears. Many bears that currently use the landfill as a food source may instead come into the village to find garbage actually increasing the number of bears.
This trend can be seen now, he said. If the garbage at the landfill is buried on a Friday by Sunday there are about five bears in town, he said.
Lafferty suggested that the idea for a fence should be saved until a new landfill site is chosen.
The current site has a maximum of two years left, said Tom Matus, the senior administrative officer for the village.
The Deh Cho Wildlife Emergency line can be reached at 695-7433.
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