Muskoka Outdoors

Over halfway through 2010 and one could argue that bears are trying to destroy their teddy bear image through various bear attacks and snarling close encounters.

For or against, these occurrences have many people talking about the cancellation of Ontario’s spring bear hunt. A lost hunting opportunity that many hunters felt was politically motivated. It was a management tool that developed a healthy fear of man in bears and helped to minimize encounters like those shared in this post. It did NOT mean the end of Ontario’s bears. Nobody wanted that!

Black Bear Photo: HBarrison from Wikipedia

Those against a bear hunt are being ‘treated’ with more bear sightings, bear attacks, property damage  and other close encounters.

Anecdotally, through sources close to Muskoka Outdoors, some Huntsville residents have been having some close encounters.

One man was working outside his house when he came face to face with a bear. After repeated attempts to scare the  bear off, the man went back inside his house, with the bear following, to get his firearm. When the man exited his house with gun in hand – the bear bolted away.

In a second, different encounter, one woman returned back into her kitchen to find a bear in her kitchen. It had come in through a screen door.

Then, there was this past spring.  In less than one month, three separate aggressive bear encounters have been reported in the area of Orillia, ON. One of the attacks was nearly fatal, while the other two were ‘charges’ and acts of aggression.

Listed below are accounts of the encounters from various sources:

1. Mauling victim gives chilling account of bear attack

2. ATV rider charged by black bear

3. Woman on bike chased by black bear near Orillia, ON

Recently, there have been other bear attacks in Canada and internationally:

1. Canadian woman recounts bear attack (Montana)

2. Bear killed after biting man’s arm (Colorado)

3. Port Alberni bear attack sends two to hospital (BC)

4. Yellowstone Bear Attack KILLS Camper, Injures Two

It’s getting more difficult to buy into the ‘rarity’ of hostile bear encounters and attacks. Clean BBQ grills, bear ‘proof’ garbage containers and call lines might fool humans into a sense of safety, but ‘Smokey’ the bear’s identity is lost in the reality of the Canadian rural setting.

Live trapping bears might make sense – until they end up in your back yard or mine. If we are going continue with this tool – I hope those involved are getting DNA samples of the bears that are re-released to make sure they are not repeat offenders. It will also give human victims a means to trace who released a potential risk to back to the wild.

At some point, increasing hunting opportunities, in conjunction with a science-based management plan, will need to be considered to start minimizing risks to humans. It could be a tough pill to swallow for anti-hunting groups.

It is more heart breaking for me to see a human become a causality of the ‘business-end’ of a bear.

This could be one more reason not to smoke or, at least, consider bringing back a spring bear hunt. The Globe and Mail reports that it took 72 staples to repair the damage to a Northern Ontario resident’s leg on Wednesday night. The article states that,

Ms. Harvey’s Rottweiler woke her up at about 1:45 a.m. wanting to go outside. She took him out to the driveway of her family’s Sudbury area home and decided to have a cigarette.

“Ranger took off to the other side of the truck,” she said. “I walked over to the back of the truck. That’s when [the bear] got me.” Entire Article Here

I predict there will be more and more of these incidences in the days and months to come as an exploding bear population in northern towns and villages causes the bears to become more bolder and brazen in their quest for food.

These aren’t the kind of bears found in kids cartoons and PETA newsletters. They are the real deal and it is those of us in rural settings that have to deal with reality of living with the black beasts.

What can you do if you run into a bear in Muskoka? Go ahead an call the Ontario MNR’s Automated phone line: 1-866-514-BEAR (2327)

I am not sure how the automated line would have helped Ms. Harvey – yet there it is. You could read through Ontario’s Bearwise Website for other lifesaving tips like:

• clean your BBQ grill after every use (because this is SO easy to do)
• put meat scraps in your freezer until garbage day (because filling your freezer with garbage is a good health standard)
• buy an expensive bear proof bin (true they seem to be effective – but a slight chunk of change more than a shotgun slug)
• keep your yard free of things that attract bears (what do we do about infants, poodles and midnight smokers?)

I hope you can sense my sarcasm. I just think that increased opportunities to hunt bears in Northern Ontario will be more effective and cost effective than the measures I listed above.

Yet, it is just my opinion and you are also entitled to yours.