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Bears have not all denned up yet

Please continue to manage attractants
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A black bear in Kimberley’s Townsite area on November 17, 2022. Photo submitted

While the weather has turned quite cold, not all bears have denned for the winter. The above photos were taken in Kimberley’s Townsite area on November 17, 2022.

According to WilldsafeBC, if a black bear is continuously finding food they may not go into their dens.

Please continue to make sure you are controlling your attractants. The City of Kimberley provides the following advice.

Bears have a keen sense of smell and are easily attracted to improperly managed garbage. Bears that forage on easily accessible fruit are also drawn close to neighbourhoods and to other sources of food such as compost, bird feeders and barbecues. Bears may break into sheds or homes to find what they can smell from a distance. Bears quickly become habituated to these foods and spend more time near homes and businesses. Habituated bears are perceived safety risk and are often shot.

Bears cannot change their behaviour - but we can. We can prevent this safety risk and the needless deaths of bears by removing and managing attractants.

• Pet food - please store food and feed pets indoors

• Freeze smelly garbage

• Keep your barbecue clean

• Remove bird feeders between April and November

• Pick fruit as it ripens - by now any fruit that fell from trees should have been picked up

• Compost responsibly

• Keep garbage carts and containers clean

RELATED: Food-conditioned bears avoiding hibernation

RELATED: This is nearly unprecedented’: Five bears killed after roaming near Penticton school



carolyn.grant@kimberleybulletin.com

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A black bear in Kimberley’s Townsite area on November 17, 2022. Photo submitted


Carolyn Grant

About the Author: Carolyn Grant

I have been with the Kimberley Bulletin since 2001 and have enjoyed every moment of it.
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