Another Bear Cub In Residential Section of Manitouwadge (incl. video)
Black bear in the process of removing Irena Mayhew's bird feeder from her back yard. Photo by Irena Mayhew
Bear cub descending from the hydro post where he'd been sitting on the 'transmitter' (cylindrical shaped box) for nearly an hour Sunday, June 23rd, 2013. Photo OntarioNewsNorth.com
MANITOUWADGE, ON – Yet another bear sighting occurred within a residential area of the community last week when Irena Mayhew had one of her bird feeders stolen by an unwelcome, black bear visiting her back yard in the ‘bird’ section of town (Manitouwadge streets are named either after animals, birds, Aboriginal names or names of prospectors/mining dignitaries and locals refer to each of these ‘areas’ as such). The bear cub which Irena guesses must have been about a year old looked alot like the same one OntarioNewsNorth.com Editor Karina Hunter filmed climbing up a hydro post in the ‘animal section’ of town about a week prior.
Bears visiting in and around town are nothing new to Manitouwadge residents, like residents of many Northshore communities, and many people point to the cancellation of the spring bear hunt after 1998 as a major cause of this. Dr. Terry Quinney, Provincial Manager of Fish and Wildlife for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters addressed this in a letter he wrote about why the spring bear hunt should be re-instated
“Absence of a spring hunt has resulted in more nuisance bears in spring and summer because there are more bears in the population, and more cannibalistic male bears in the woods that other bears try to avoid. These other bears must seek food in other areas, such as near towns. Berry crops failures worsen these effects. These factors explain the unprecedented number of nuisance bear problems that the province is now experiencing, including the unprecedented number of bears being shot as nuisances, unprecedented number of orphan cubs appearing at wildlife rehabilitation centers, and unprecedented number of bears being trapped and “relocated.” (Ministry of Natural Resources [M.N.R.] published information states that trapping/relocation as a nuisance bear management tool has a failure rate of 80% for adult bears.)”
What ever the reasons for bears and their cubs visiting Northwestern Ontario communities it seems it is something that people never quite get used to. Irena Mayhew explained how her bear encounter began about a week prior to the feeder being stolen when a neighbour knocked on her door and told her a bear was trying to get at the feeders in her yard. When Irena looked out of her window there was the bear trying to snack on a feeder full of sunflower seeds which was hanging from one of the trees in her yard.
“He [the bear] just grabbed the feeder and kept it in his mouth and walked away with it. And he took his time too. He looked back at us. We were laughing that he thought he was so sneaky.”
Irena has since taken down all her suet style bird-feeders planning to wait until the fall to put them back up. “I love having the birds in my yard” she explained – the bears however she’d rather do without.
Local Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) staff are working collaboratively with the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Manitouwadge/Marathon detachments to protect public safety and educate the communities about bear behaviour.
The Marathon/Manitouwadge OPP have responded to numerous calls of bears being in residential areas however bears that come into a populated area aren’t always a threat to public safety so who should you contact about encounters with bears?
If a bear poses an immediate threat to personal safety by exhibiting threatening or aggressive behavior, such as:
- Stalking people and lingering at the site
- Entering or trying to enter a residence
- Wandering into a public gathering
- Killing livestock/pets and is lingering at the site
CALL 911.
If a bear is:
- Roaming around, checking garbage cans
- Breaking into a shed where garbage or food is stored
- In a tree
- Pulling down a bird feeder or knocking over a barbecue
- Moving through a backyard or field but is not lingering
CALL THE TOLL-FREE BEAR WISE REPORTING LINE AT 1-866-514-2327 (TTY 705-945-7641).
This line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week from April 1 until Nov. 30. Trained staff can advise you about bear behaviour, how to avoid human-bear conflicts, and how to remove attractants from your property.
Residents or visitors wanting to be prepared by learning more can also visit ontario.ca/bearwise.
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If you have an interesting story, photos or video to share send it to Editor@OntarioNewsNorth.com (Always put SAFETY FIRST! no photo or video is worth endangering yourself or anyone else!) NEVER approach wild animals as they are unpredictable and will defend themselves if they feel threatened!
