
More Knowledge of Bears Needed
Friday, October 10, 2014
“We saw a bear. So we stopped and had a little snack,
and the bear had a little snack.”
– Employee at Tourist Information booth in Nakusp, BC.
(SNN) - Want to have a close encounter with a bear? My suggestion would be to do what a BC Tourism employee told us they did recently on spotting a bear while out hiking in BC’s Kootenays – get out some food. Fortunately for them, the bear did not become confrontational.
What food could be better for attracting bears than homemade deer salami made with liquid smoke flavouring? It was for this reason that the car was only metres behind us as we stopped, on route to the Kootenays, at a remote picnic area for a lunch of crackers, cheese, and deer salami.
My boyfriend and I don’t relish getting up close and personal with bears. Upon encountering a bear last month, we didn’t want pictures or a good look at the animal. It was warning enough that, while I was out of sight up the path, the bear had been staring intently at Rob. Best not to make eye contact we correctly felt, and we immediately left the area.
Needing to fatten up for hibernation, a bear might find it hard to resist an easy meal close at hand. That meal might be your picnic, or it might even be you. This past spring in Alberta, a Suncor employee was killed after she exited a PortaPottie (and I’ve been told partially devoured) by a black bear just recently out of hibernation.
As I told the BC Tourism employee, while she’s right that the majority of black bears are non-confrontational, we don’t know that the bear encountered is not a “rogue” or an extremely hungry bear.
From the ‘Globe and Mail’, May 7, 2014: “A large black bear killed a Suncor Energy Inc. employee Wednesday while the individual was at the company’s main oil sands operation.” “The victim was a 36-year old female…”
Good advice comes from Suncor’s executive vice-president, Mark Little, in a statement after the tragedy: "All of us need to focus on personal safety and I would urge everyone to be extremely vigilant in dealing with wildlife."
Image: Black Bear, All Rights Reserved, 2014, Brian K. Hahn
More Opinion News
-
Cork and the Geez Talk Oscars
Monday, February 27, 2017
The Old Coot & the Geezer analyze what went wrong and what went right at the Academy Awards this year, review the show, and recommend who should host next year. The duo are America's most respected fuddy-duddy film ...
-
Cork and the Geez Dish on the Golden Globes
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
(SNN) The Old Coot and the Geezer, affected no doubt by the rainy weather in Southern California turn grumpy as they analyze the Golden Globes and show what they mean--mostly good food for the media. Will Hollywood ...
-
Revisiting "Two-a-Days" with One Small Difference
Thursday, October 06, 2016
(SNN) For four years of high school and one in college, I would spend a couple of weeks during the dog days of August involved in what was known as "Two-a-days." Those, as any current or former football player ...
-
Coping with the Wobblies
Sunday, September 18, 2016
(SNN) Belonging to an elite group is only fun if it was one you aspired to, like giving a hundred speeches and becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster. During that time I would get the “wobblies” almost weekly. “What’s ...
-
Experimental Turkeys & Murphy's Law
Friday, September 16, 2016
(SNN) It is a paradox of science that before any breakthrough there is often a f’ed-up earlier stage. Out of this f’ed-stage have come some turkeys – turkeys that crossed the road to find something of value on the ...
-
Adventures in Eating
Sunday, August 21, 2016
(SNN) Some food combinations reside in the collective unconscious – and then there are those that shouldn’t exist at all. That special is a lottery. Visible from my apartment is a restaurant that has been struggling ...
-
No More Miscarriage Taboo
Friday, June 24, 2016
(SNN) I got a tattoo recently to honor the life and death of my daughter. The potential of her. The possibility of her. The scarred grief of her that tore up my heart. The fact that she was not born alive did not ...
-
Since the Pulse Stopped
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Since 'the Pulse stopped,' I've been thinking a few things. (SNN) The other day 49 human beings were murdered, and 53 more were injured in an attempt to murder them, simply for being in a "Gay" nightclub called ...
-
Fall Down, Go Boom
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
(SNN) My doctor has asked me to not fall down. I’ve attempted to honor his request, but it's easier said than done. Staying upright cannot be taken for granted if, like me, you own a fused ankle, Silly Putty knee ...
-
Character Actors: Not Just In It to Win It
Friday, January 29, 2016
(SNN) The death this week of actor Abe Vigoda at 94 reminds us that there are degrees of success of Hollywood, that fame can come after thirty years of toiling in obscurity, and that a great actor is a great actor ...