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Bears, Bears, Bears, everywhere

<a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/gatineau-residents-concerned-bears-near-202100650.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>

<a href="https://ca.news.yahoo.com/gatineau-residents-concerned-bears-near-202100650.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Source</a>

Ottawa-Gatineau (my place of residence in Canada) has seen a new influx of a new type of immigrants not on two legs but rather on four: mostly black bears. There have been since mid August some 69 sightings of black bears in my region of 1.3 M of inhabitants. Now these sightings are not uncommon but the number is higher than normal.   Why this increase in bear visiting the capital region? Well, summer is almost over, autumn will be in full bloom soon and then winter. Bears have to fatten up for their winter hibernation. Since this summer here has been extremely long (from May to mid-September) and also extremely hot (July was also very dry), their food sources in the wild have decreased considerably. There are little left of grasses, roots and berries that most black bears eat. With this, they have to scavenge wider and farther for their sustenance. That is why they come into town for some apple trees bu mostly for garbage bins and compost bins but not for human companionship.

Above you see a picture of a black bear that was smack in the middle of the Ottawa’s farmers market (Byward market) one very early morning. He managed to climb that tree after being rousted by Ottawa police. A conservationist agent then tranquilized him twice in order to put him in a bear crate and relocate him far from the city. It is believed that that particular bear came across the river from Gatineau park to wander around the market area. Bears are remarkable swimmers.  There have also been sightings of bears near elementary schools where garbage bins are outside and not well padded. Now that is dangerous. Some parents have instructed their children on behavior to adopt when facing a black bear.  But so far, thanks to the efforts of the Ottawa-Gatineau population, conservationist agents and the likes only one black bear was hit by a car and had to be euthanized and there has not been any human accidents or fatalities while facing a black bear. All the inhabitants of Ottawa-Carleton and Gatineau have been instructed to put their garbage bins and compost bins either in their garage or in well hidden areas that a bear cannot get to or destroy. They have also been told to take away bird feeders and any other wildlife feeders of any kind. Most of the Ottawa-Gatineau inhabitants who live on the outskirts of the city have to take care of their dogs or cats because of the possibility of facing a black bear.

So what about the rest of the Virylians. Any encounters with wild animals lately? Let Virily know about it.

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What do you think?

12 Points

Written by HistoryGal

24 Comments

    • I absolutely agree. They can be dangerous especially when provoked especially if you attempt to approach a bear cub: watch out for the big mamma bear. But they are cute indeed.

  1. In my country there is no such thing, because there are no bears who are native. Are they very dangerous?

    If we think about it deeply, they are like many other animals, have lost their habitat because of human acts, but conditions have happened, and will continue, then we have to think about how they will survive in this age and so on, right?

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    • Oh yes Albert black bears can be dangerous if provoked, especially a mother bear of course. The bears will eventually have to adapt even more than they already have and diversify their eating habits even more. But never mind the (poor bears), how is the kitten doing?. All kidding aside, thank you for reading and commenting and of course up voting.

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      • Is that a black bear that is often a part of Hollywood films? If so, it must be dangerous indeed.

        Ah, the blessed beautiful baby… She sleeps and wakes up and sleeps and wakes up again every hour. It was at those times that we gave her combination milk.

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    • I totally agree Francisco. Grizzlies would cause mayhem. And also thank God none of the black bear were bothered enough by humans to try to retaliate. Thank you very much for commenting and up voting.

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    • Oh I tend to agree. After all, not too many other animals will tend to attack a bear unless it is a cub or a sickly older bear. But it is too bad that the weather is getting hard on them and that they have to resort to coming into town and risk being hit by cars, risk of being put down because of humans being too bold with them etc.

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    • Those are not my pictures but still are real witnesses snapshots. I agree with you: we humans invaded the bear territory. Thank you for your comment and up vote. Sorry about the delay in answering but we had a big tornado yesterday (something of that magnitude I have never seen in my 63 years of living here. )

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      • You are lucky Carol. Here the bears are coming in but not yet in the hundreds of numbers like one previous year in 1996 if I remember well. Sorry about the delay in answering but we had a big tornado yesterday with power outages all over. Thank you for visiting, commenting and up voting.

        • No loss of life that I know of but a lot of damage that I have seen on the news. Enough damage for the Prime Minister of Quebec to stop his election campaign tour to come today and see the damage first hand. If I heard well 700 persons in Gatineau alone were moved to temporary shelters due to loss of home. I have never experienced a tornado or even heard of such a big one in my area before. It goes to show that climate change is real and coming fast.

    • Wow, that is scary. Actually black bear are usually afraid of humans and will most of the time retreat unlike grizzlies. But they are still an impressive animal not to be jested with. You can ask Rex Truelove as he is the resident naturalist on Virily.

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    • Oh yes they are cute, I agree but I would not appreciate having one nose to nose with little old me. Thank you for reading and commenting and up voting and for deciding to follow me. I appreciate it very much and will return the favor.