CANMORE – A hungry black bear feasting on fruit trees in the Three Sisters neighbourhood has managed to avoid a trap set for it for the past week.
A baited bear trap was set up in Armstrong Place, Thursday (Sept. 27) after a bold bear climbed mountain ash trees to eat berries at Trailside Lodges and other homes in the area during daylight hours.
The plan was to relocate the bear out of Canmore for public safety reasons.
“The black bear was eating a lot of mountain ash tree berries in that area, as well as in the Dyrgas area,” said Dave Rempel, Canmore’s carnivore conflict technician with Alberta Environment and Parks.
“The bear had been in mountain ash trees for several days when that trap was set, but it seems to have moved on,” he said, adding the culvert trap won’t be there much longer.
Bears travelling through the neighbourhood are not uncommon.
As bears look to fatten up in preparation for a long winter’s hibernation, trees laden with fruit act as a gateway for bears to get into other unnatural sources in town – bird feeders, greasy barbecues, recycling or garbage.
Removing fruit attractants from yards helps avoid attracting bears into residential neighbourhoods, which reduces the chance of bears getting trapped and relocated to other areas in Alberta.
Research shows relocated bears generally have a fairly low chance of survival, but moving a bear in fall is especially difficult for them.
Rempel said the least residents can do is pick fruit from their trees to help keep bears away, particularly as bears are trying to fatten up for winter’s hibernation.
“Even though you’re not going to eat mountain ash berries, leaving it in trees is just asking for a bear to find it,” he said. “Removing the tree completely is an even better option.”
Rempel said mountain ash, which holds its berries longer than other fruit trees found here, seems to be a popular ornamental tree in the gardens of condo developments in town.
“I encourage people to speak with their condo boards and suggest removing the tree and replacing it with something that doesn’t attract bears,” he said.
In late August, a black bear was shipped out of the Peaks of Grassi neighbourhood in what wildlife officials described as a classic example of a bear becoming more brazen in its search for food.
The animal had been eating buffalo berries before moving onto fruit trees in the Peaks neighnourhood, where it eventually found a bag of garbage left out and went inside the garage of a home.
To help remove fruit, people can borrow pruning shears and extendable fruit pickers from Bow Valley WildSmart. Bearproof fruit collection bins are available at the Boulder Crescent recycling depot for unwanted fruit.
