Duane Hicks
The presence of bears in the district is up slightly so far this year as diminished berry crops have the bruins on the prowl for food.
“There have been 71 reports to the bear reporting line for all of Fort Frances District, which includes Atikokan and Rainy River,” Linda Wall, “BearWise” program co-ordinator, said Friday in an e-mail to the Times.
This compares to 68 by this same time last year.
“Problems with bears increase when natural foods are poor and vice-versa,” Wall noted.
“In 2009, there were 144 occurrences up to the same period—a year when most of the province had bad natural food availability,” she added.
Wall said the availability of natural food for bears is sporadic right across the region.
“Parts of Dryden and Sioux Lookout have some reasonable natural foods,” she remarked. “As you go further north, the foods are poorer.
“And in the Fort Frances and Rainy River area, although not a complete failure, natural foods are not as abundant as they are normally.”
Residents are asked to report bear sightings by calling the Ministry of Natural Resources’ “BearWise” hotline at 1-866-514-2327.
If the matter is urgent, and there is any potential danger, residents are directed to call the OPP’s communications centre at 1-888-310-1122 (not the local detachment).
When reporting a bear, complainants should be prepared to provide the following information:
•the location of the bear;
•number of times it has been sighted;
•time(s) of day it is sighted;
•possible attractants in area (birdfeeders, garbage, etc.); and
•what, if any, property damage occurred.
A good tip for town residents to avoid attracting bears to their property is to put their garbage and recyclables out on the morning of pick-up—not the night before or earlier.
As well, apples and acorns are falling from the trees, making for an easy snack.
Residents with these types of trees can pick up the apples and so forth off the ground right now, instead of leaving them as a bear attractant.
The public also is reminded to leave the bears alone as they’re wild and highly unpredictable.
