While some bruins did have to be trapped and relocated after wandering into town this summer and fall, the number of nuisance bears reported here this year was down considerably.
“It’s been one of the quietest years in a long time,” municipal bylaw enforcement/animal control officer Dave Egan said Tuesday morning.
“In the last month, we had one that was tranquilized, one that was trapped in the north end, and then we had a trap set in the east end but the bear didn’t enter it,” he recalled.
“It [the numbers] was way down, even in terms of sightings,” he added. “Put it this way—it was bearable.”
Egan guessed the reason for that was a very good berry season, so the animals did not have to come into town to look for too much food.
“But it’s strange because Thunder Bay was apparently just overrun with them [bears],” he noted. “I hate to say it, but we possibly might pay for it next year with them all coming back.
“Who knows?”
Municipal bylaw enforcement/animal control officer Arlene Byrnes said only 22 reported bear sightings came in from town residents this summer.
“We used to get that in a week,” she laughed. “Overall, 22 is not a high number for this area.”
Of the 22, one bear was dispatched (i.e., shot), three immobilized, and one live-trapped.
At this time last year, about 80 bears had been reported to the town bylaw department. The year before, it was well above 95.
Byrnes noted that at this point in October, bear activity calms down and that the town does not expect any more reports until next year.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
