On his way home from work yesterday evening around 4 PM, Ian McDonald passed the Fallowfield train station in Nepean, when he observed 4 to 5 Ottawa Police Officers walking down the tracks with hands on their guns.
McDonald noticed that the police where spread out in a line at about 10 feet apart. He kept his eye on the area to see what was transpiring, just as a bus went down Fallow field Road.
When McDonald was approximately half way to Greenbank, he discovered what the officers where searching for – when he spotted a black bear tearing across the open field just north of the train station.
There is still no word on what occurred or if the bear has been captured.
It must be a bad week for misguided bears as yesterday we heard from Tom in Kemptville, about a black bear reported wandering around his children’s school property.
Thanks to Ian McDonald for this on-the-spot report…if you witness anything out of the ordinary with local fish or wildlife, please drop me a line!
(Note: the photograph is unrelated to this story)
Outdoorsguy
I’ve seen quite a few bears out where I am in Kemptville.. Mostly little ones, but I guess all you can do is call Police when you see one. Its crazy to hear of one in Barrhaven though – must have been misguided. 😛
Or hungry
Don’t forget, the little ones only stay little for a while
Lots of bears, lots of bear human encounters
No spring bear hunt
every year the population increases
soon, the bad will happen
then everyone will ask WHY
A lot of people may wonder why would the population of bears increase when we
still have a fall bear hunt?
I’ll tell you why.
A lot of people, and I mean a lot, of real serious bear hunters quit hunting
bears in Ontario. A lot of people really liked hunting bears in the spring, but are too busy
hunting other big game in the fall, so they just quit.
Sure they still buy a bear tag, just in case they see one in the fall, but they don’t activly
hunt them like they did in a spring hunt.
Instead they go to Quebec, Manitiba or even farther west.
from what i heard today is that the bears had a bad year. went to bed earliy and got up early and the cubs did not do so well as far as food goes . they say there will be a significant drop in bear young this year … WHO IN THE HECK do they think they are trying to fool
and with the season we are having so far, food will be available much earlier like berries and greens
although with the heavy frosts we’ve had and the dry weather we are now having i wonder what the berry crops will be like. on our property we have many apple trees which were all in bloom when we had very severe frosts i’m curious to see how they fare out. last two years we had bumper apple crops and had to shovel bear crap to get at front door on friday evenings
I have hunted bears for 30yrs now and since the end of the spring hunt the excitement is not there.It used to be fun to sit in the dead quiet of the bush and listen to the birds,frogs,see the squirrels, grouse and other wildlife and wait for the tell tail signal that a bear was around when everything stopped.In the spring there is hardly any wind or leaves to cover sounds.Now with only the fall hunt guys are to busy getting ready for small game season.Duck season just around the corner,fishing season is at it’s best,and golfers are still in full swing.So now instead of chasing bad guys we have our cops after nomadic bears.Heaven forbid if some person in Barrhaven gets mauled by a bear.I can guaranty that action will happen then.Outside of Toronto,Barrhaven probably has some of the most vocal reps. and influencial big wigs.Dalton might listen then.Besides with the dissastrous shape of the provincial finances if the spring hunt came back, imagine the $$$$$$$ he could reap.
Very good points Paul…I actually took a good friend’s hint to post this story…as we both knew it was the type of piece that would probably never make print.
Outdoorsguy
It is a well kept secret that bears are fairly common in the Barrhaven area. After all we have the largest bear feeder/bait station in Ottawa. It is called the Trail Road Dump. I know several people who work at the dump. They see bears on a regular basis.
It will be interesting to see if this latest bear siting makes the local newspaper. They seem to have avioded publishing such sitings the last few years.
Dalton will only react if he thinks it is in his political best interest.
Another great local bear feeder is the Carp Dump.
When it was still legal to hunt there we took several bears from within sight of the Scotia Bank Place off Maple Grove Road. The bears are still there and with all the new development in that area it is only a matter of time before there is a bad occurance.
there is a story in a local newspaper today about a bear in the Arlington Park area, and another sighting in the area of a mom and cub. Good luck to the one who runs into those two
Sorry Iggy, I hadn’t seen your comment…
Outdoorsguy
Thanks Rick…it seems the other local paper did pick up the story about a black bear in Arlington Woods…must be the same bear, but who knows eh…
Outdoorsguy
None of you get it do you. The real issue here is that we are seeing more bears because we are encroaching on their habitat. I guess people won’t be happy until we kill everything that “invades” suburbia. There should be less urban expansion- it should be curbed and the wildlife given the opportunity to co-exist. It’s time that attitudes change. It will be a pretty lonely planet without wildlife.
To Nick(nickdiespecker):
So, in your definition of ‘Ecosystem’…omnivores like bears should be on top..and we humans fall below that somewhere?
By virtue of your theory then..the deer, moose, bears..etc..should be working towards controlling human numbers and practising people management, right?
I am quite sure if you read back over comments left by the conservationists in this group, you will see that none of us want to annihilate the wildlife..our role is one of resource manager..to hopefully balance and control numbers.
Unfortunately, politics and the preservationist attitudes like yours tend to get in the way of that.
Outdoorsguy
I was refering to the local Barrhaven newspaper. It usually comes in on Friday. It will be interesting to see if either bear story appears.
Nothing in the Barrhaven Independant on either bear.
Rick, could the bear in Arlington Woods from that one article be the same one spotted by Ian Mc Donald near the Fallowfield train station…I dont know the area that well.
Outdoorsguy
Yes Jeff there is nothing but farm fields between the two areas. The land in between is NCC owned experimental farm property. There is a chain link fence surrounding the farmland but that would not contain or even slow down a bear. The area to the west, highway 416, Moodie Drive is heavily wooded. Bruce Pit, a very popular dog walking area and Bell High School are also close.
To my namesake. What is obvious, is you don’t get it. We are seeing more bears because there ARE more bears. We cancelled the spring bear hunt, numbers shot up and they lost their fear of man. Don’t fall for that lefty “people bad animals good” crap. We have a right to our habitat just as much as the bears do. It isn’t our fault bears are too stupid to build houses and drive cars. I am not for killing animals jsut to kill them, but neither am I for having citiots tell me that It would be a lonlier planet without wildlife. There are no shortage of bears as far as I know and consider this. It would be even a lonelier planet without people.
Hey Nickdiespecker
What a goofy thing to say, where should we go and live then?
come on bright boy, where should we live then….duuuu
the country keeps growing in population, but we shouldn’t expand our housing…duuuuu
by the way dopey, the houses we are talking about were built 40 years ago in Arlington Woods
long before any of those bears were born so I think the bears are encroaching
can we get dumb people kicked off here, or are they allowed on for the entertainment factor
Another population management issue that is going to haunt us for awhile.
It always pisses me off when the cops start running around like chickens with their heads cut off when they receive a “bear call”. I have no problem with ensuring that kids in school yards and play grounds are safe. But as for the bear, leave it alone and he’ll go back to where he lives. But no, the entire shift gets caught up in the excitement which ends up startling the bear to the point where he does something stupid.
I always ask “how many complaints were received?” the answer is usually 1 or 2, Then I ask “how many houses did the bear have to pass to get where he was spotted?” the answer is usually hundreds.
If people would learn to co-habitate with bears we wouldn’t have a problem. Put your fking bird feeders away in the spring, keep your garbage contained, clean your BBQ grill and they’ll move on. Leave them all out and the bears will come…..
I don’t think it’s anything to be proud of the way we treat animals. I would rather we look to find solutions to co-exist than to sign an animals death warrant simply because it is squeezed out of it’s habitat. The pervasive attitude here seems to be that hunting is part of people’s heritage and it’s always been that way. I recognize that many hunters play a role in reducing numbers of species that have risen exponentially but some of the reasons for that can be traced back to us due to removing natural predators and natural habitat. Just because I respect animals as part of my environment doesn’t warrant labelling me as some have.
I don’t believe that and whenever we interfere in nature there is a price to pay – ask any biologist. I don’t think we’re doing such a great job on this planet in the way we manage nature. So, outdoors guy and others I’m happy to be a “preservationist” if advocating more protection for wildlife results in less urban expansion and the chance to to see more wildlife. There are plenty of strategies that can be applied to deter bears from entering suburbia. I would just prefer to see them relocated rather than destroyed. There are plenty of differing opinions on this topic. I felt it important to voice mine and I didn’t have to resort to name-calling to do it.
Nick:
If you read back through all the comments…you’ll see that almost every hunter in the group DISAGREED with the way the Orleans moose situation was handled..we did NOT condone the killing of that young bull what so ever! In fact, most people agreed that leaving it alone may have been the best approach all along. So, I agree with you that this animal should have been relocated.
This is not being a preservationist necessarily, but just a smart move in this situation. Another smart move would have been to get the MNR involved! We may never know the political ramifications as to why the owner of Papanak Zoo was called in..and Not a trained CO from the Ministry.
Please don’t be too quick to judge us either Nick..we are not all out to kill every animal we see…especially those ones that go astray.
Outdoorsguy
Finally something in a local newspaper about the Barrhavenn/Nepean bears. The Nepean/Barrhaven EMC has a front page article about the Arlington Woods/Bayshore bear(s). The gist of the article was that the bear(s) was just passing through. No biggie. Just stay clear and let it pass. Keep your yards clean of potential bear food and keep your pets under control. Why couldn’t tthey do that with the moose?
“The life of an uneducated man is as useless as the tail of a dog which neither covers its rear end, nor protects it from the bites of insects.”
STOP FEARING BEARS, EDUCATE YOURSELVES AND WE WONT HAVE THESE PROBLEMS. NATURE AND WILDLIFE ARE PART OF THIS BEAUTIFUL PLANET SO WHY MUST WE DESTROY EVERYTHING LIKE AN INCURABLE VIRUS.
Cubby, I actually have 7 years of post-secondary education in the field; including a degree in Environmental Management and three years studying Fish & Wildlife Biology…
And there are a lot more people just like me here on the Outdoors Guy…so, you may want give up your ‘uneducated’ country bumpkin angle in the bashing of conservation and wildlife management, its getting old.
But feel free to share your credentials with us..we would all like to know what a really educated person has to say.
Outdoorsguy
hey Chubby, why not teach us a little bit here, tell us what they taught you in the classroon. hahahahahahaha
what a maroooon
did they teach you about Yogi and how he likes to sneak into camp sites and steal picnic baskets
and how cute Bambi was and how bad hunters are….spend some real time in the bush, now that’s a classroom
just saw my second black bear in Carp (corkery area) today – one was very large. He was standing on his back legs and then ran right past my car as he crossed the street. One km away from the St Michael school in the residential area.
I don’t intend to take side with either side of the debate above but this is an area with lots of kids and the bear was not acting scared of any humans.
Ted, is it common to see bears so close to town in Carp?
How big do you estimate it was??
Outdoorsguy
Hello,
I’m no expert, but I’ve been a hiker and photographer for many years and I’ve had three encounters with bears hiking up in Gatineau hills close to Ottawa. In all cases I was within 10 feet of the bears. One had me about half a foot away from it’s nose. I was climbing up the side of a cliff in Gatineau park and the bear was feeding on some berries growing at the base of the tree the rope I was climbing up was attached to. In all cases I came back without incident.
I don’t think Bears really need to be hunted as long as they don’t get corrupted by humans. The bears I’ve encountered were all fairly docile…one let me watch from ten feet away for more than five minutes before getting up and wandering back into the bush. The problem occurs when they get used to humans and their food. Bears in the Barrhaven and other residential areas can be dangerous because of their lack of fear towards humans and their taste for our food, often recovered in garbage. Some of these bears, especially those intentionally fed by humans, need to be killed as they often become aggressive towards humans. The bear is a dominant and predatory animal and when they get used to humans they can sometimes feel the need to challenge their dominance in what they perceive is their territory.
The truth is, the likelihood of an attack is quite low, even in residential areas. Bears eat mostly plants, in fact for most Black Bears, meat accounts for less than 5% of their diet. The idea of attacking a human is daunting, even for an animal that size. They will only attack if they feel threatened or if defending their cubs. Even then, attacks are often lacking as bears will usually fake the charge at first, stopping their attack at the last moment, sometimes stamping their paw on the ground.
All you have to remember is DO NOT PANIC. The bear doesn’t want anything to do with you. If you increase the anxiety of the bear, it is more likely to attack so stay calm. Do not make eye contact, or make quick or threatening movements or noises. Do not corner the bear (although I can’t think of why you’d want to). Do not feed the bear either. You may think it’s a good idea, that maybe it will leave you alone. It might, but now it’s been taught that humans have food, and it may become aggressive towards you or someone else thinking that they will get fed. Just speak in a calm, but loud voice and back away slowly. It will probably run like hell in the other direction.
If you’re really worried, invest in some Bear Repellent Spray, available at any outdoors store or Canadian Tire for less than $30. Just be careful using it, as you would be in a pretty terrible situation if you sprayed yourself inadvertently.
Dave
Just on the east side of Blind River, ON, is a “Bear Wise” sign. It advises people to “not feed the bears because they can be dangerous”. I’m sure it’s an MNR sign.
This says 2 things to me:
1. there are actually people dumb enough to feed a bear
2. there wouldn’t be a sign if there wasn’t a small bear population. For them to put a sign up means there are too many bears. Otherwise, would they need a “Bear Wise” sign????
I would have taken a picture, but it’s on Highway 17 and you don’t stop on that highway to take pictures. Very dangerous!
Keebler, the sign you saw is definitely an MNR sign – the Bear Wise program has been in affect for probably 5 or 6 years..they have actually gone into the school system in certain areas to ‘educate’ children on bears and how to be more ‘bear wise’
Outdoorsguy
the Bear Wise Program is a way for the MNR to blame people for the bear problem caused by not enough bears being hunted, most notably in the spring
So Iggy, you’re saying it would be better called the: “We f’ed Up Program”
Outdoorsguy
that would be a good start or
We got together with the OFAH and stopped the Spring Bear Hunt
Now we have the Spring Summer and Fall Human Bear Hunt Program
That way, when we do have maulings, we can say “We told you so”
it’s called CYA