Perfect conditions for berries this year, but more activity in valley expected
By Alison Taylor Whistler’s bears are preparing for their long winter sleep by gorging on everything in sight right now, said resident bear researcher Michael Allen.
"There’s some fat bears out there," said Allen, as he sat on the grass at Myrtle Philip Community School where he was giving bear talks to the students on Tuesday.
At least one of those fat bears has been causing a few problems in Whistler in recent weeks. There were reports of a big bear getting into a home on Panorama Ridge. Then the activity stopped. Next there were reports of a big bear causing problems around Beaver Flats in Creekside. After a few days that activity stopped too. Next a big bear was reported hanging around the small horse corral at the Edgewater Lodge near Alpine Meadows. Subsequently one of the horses was spooked, broke a leg and had to be put down.
The district’s Conservation Officer Chris Doyle said they have tried to set traps to no avail.
He doesn’t know if he’s dealing with the same bear or a couple of bears. But he is sure of one thing.
"Everybody always says it’s the biggest bear they’ve ever seen," he said.
The bears are so fat this year because they have been gorging on the plentiful berry crop.
This fall feast is the bear’s natural response to a condition called hyperphagia, or hyper-feeding. It starts in early August when the hormonal signals in their body tell them that the mating season is over and it’s time to chow down.
That means some bears will spend up to 17 hours every day simply eating this year’s bumper berry crop.
An adult male and a pregnant female are the most likely to put on the most weight, some gaining as much as 100 pounds in a few short months.
"(The pregnant females) want to reach as maximum a weight as they can," said Allen.
Because their main focus is on food, the pregnant female will tolerate a passing hiker or nearby construction site much more than a male black bear. For them, feeding is crucial for their babies to survive.
The bears who usually gain the least weight are mothers with cubs because all of their resources are directed towards their babies and keeping them safe.
When Allen spies pregnant bears Jeannie and Alice on Whistler Mountain, he said they just don’t stop eating. Katie on the other hand always has her eyes on her young cub. She eats then stops and assesses the situation every so often. Allen said those pauses, although they are brief, can add up, and as a result the mother has the least amount of weight on her when she settles into her den with her cubs for hibernation.
Knowing that the bears have a one-track mind at the moment, Allen said the real problem bear season is just around the corner. He expects to see more bear activity in the valley in the coming weeks.
October is usually when bears put the most pressure on people as they search out food sources.
Whistler has had a quiet summer this year in terms of bear activity and bear/human conflicts, with fewer than usual reports of problem bears.
"This year we keep waiting for it to get busy with bears in Whistler but it just hasn’t happened," said Doyle.
He hasn’t handled one bear in Whistler and there have been very few incidences with the police using non-lethal techniques on bears.
"It’s probably the quietest bear year in Whistler, certainly in recent memory," said Doyle.
That doesn’t mean the bears haven’t been around. It means that people are becoming more bear-friendly.
"Whistler has come a long way with controlling attractants and it’s starting to really pay off," said Doyle.
Some other parts of the province are still working to prevent bear/human conflicts. In the Rossland-Warfield-Trail area, for example, 22 bears had been destroyed this year, as of Sept. 15. Some of the bears were attracted by garbage cans which are left out on streets overnight for pickup the next morning. Dry weather has also been a factor, damaging natural sources of food such as berries.
Doyle said another factor locally may be that people are not reporting all the bear run-ins in Whistler and he encourages people to call the 24-hour conservation line 1-800-663-WILD (9453) which deals with poaching, polluting and problems with wildlife.
Another factor in the decreased bear activity is that Whistler has a bumper berry crop this year with the hot weather. The bears weren’t under a lot of pressure to seek out alternative food sources.
Fortunately the early September rain and cloud saved a lot of the crop and slowed the ripening process. Now berries are ripening all the way up to the tree line, reaching as far up as Harmony Lake. There’s a lot of bear activity up there right now said Allen. That berry crop should be good for only one more week.
Then as the berries in the higher elevations disappear, the bears will make their way into the valley in search of food.
They’ll be looking for berries like white dogwood berries and mountain ash, but bears with a history of reward will be looking for garbage.
As a result Allen expects to see a lot of bear activity in and around the dump in Function Junction.
He also recommends that people should shut all their windows if they have experienced any bear activity around their house. Bear behaviour is based on the reward system and a bear will try to get into a house if he or she believes there is a reward in it.
If the weather continues to be unsettled the valley berry crop should last until early October said Allen. And then, the sooner it snows, the better, forcing the bears into their dens and out of any trouble with humans.
Allen shared his information about Whistler’s bears with all the children at Myrtle Philip School this week. He has been giving his bear talks at the school in the fall and spring every year since 1997. The municipality has funded those talks for the past five years.
Questions, information or bear sighting reports please call Michael Allen at 604-902-1660 or e-mail: mallen_coastbear@direct.ca
