With it being unusually warm so far, not all bears have hibernated for the winter.
Len Butler, Inspector for the Conservation Officer Service says, there have been a few more bears out than normally at this time of the year in lots of areas around the Province and the Cariboo as well.
“The Watch Lake area out of 100 Mile House, I know west of Williams Lake in the Horsefly area and I believe in the Hydraulic Road area in Quesnel, we’ve had a few bears that have come out of the den or in some cases did not den up which is rare but it’s usually younger bears that are just trying to keep eating I guess.”
Butler says it’s not unusual for bears to come out of the den, take a walk around then go back into the den.
So far they’ve only had one issue with a bear out in Horsefly that was getting into dog food and garbage being left out which Butler says is a continuous problem they have all year long.
“If they’re hungry they’re going to go anywhere to get that food source,” Butler says, “So managing your trash even though it’s winter time is always a good idea.”