That warning comes from Quesnel Conservation Officer Chris Ford, who says they are still waiting for green up, which is going to happen a little later this year…
“We’re definitely going to need a few more weeks, it is a late season, just due to the heavy snow load that we have had. There are still significant amounts of snow out in the outlying areas around Quesnel for example, so we will see some of those bears coming into the low areas where there is a bit of grass that is greening up so it’ll probably be a few more weeks still.”
Ford says a black bear’s diet is made up of roughly 80 percent vegetation.
He says that makes it even more important this year for people to make sure that they don’t attract bears to their property…
“Garbage needs to be placed in a shop or a garage or a bear proof receptacle. Bird feeders for example, they need to be taken down, dirty bar-b-q’s should be cleaned and compost should now have any meat or smelly items added to the mix at this time.”
Ford says under the wildlife act it is an offence to attract dangerous wildlife to property and charges can ensue…
“It is definitely something that we are going to focus on this year, if there are attractant issues it will be addressed, whether it be warnings for example, or dangerous wildfire protection orders where we’ll impose an order for someone to remove their attractant so that we can reduce conflict with bears.”
Ford says fines can be levied if people don’t cooperate ranging from 230 dollars up to 345 dollars.
He says more information can be found at wildsafebc.com.
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