Garbage is attracting more than black bears in Wildwood. Crows and ravens, notorious for zeroing in on bags put out on garbage day, are having a first peck.
Residents in the area are well-versed on reducing wildlife attractants and taking steps to mitigate interaction with the larger animals that come into the community. One guideline that seems to have worked is to not put garbage out until the day of collection.
It doesn’t matter which neighbourhood is involved, crows and ravens are everywhere and can often be seen pecking into bags of garbage and strewing the contents across back alleys. The issue of birds having first dibs on the garbage was brought up at a recent Wildwood Ratepayers’ Association meeting. Susan Hainstock, association secretary, brought the issue to the group to raise awareness. “It started for me as a general garbage issue where people would put their plastic bags of garbage out then within an hour ravens would be at it, spreading it all over,” she said.
What worried Hainstock about the issue was that city workers have been left with the cleanup. “I feel badly that the city guys have to rake that up and clean that up because you never know what is going to come out of somebody’s garbage.”
Hainstock acknowledges how hard it is for people who go to work in a morning, put out their garbage on collection day, but perhaps garbage pickup isn’t until 1 or 2 pm, leaving plenty of opportunity for the birds to gain access through the plastic bag. She wondered whether people using garbage cans could be a simple answer to the issue of birds. “Now it is bear season and I have to admit, a garbage can is not going to stop a bear, but it could help with the birds.”
As Hainstock mentioned, bear season has begun. BC Conservation Foundation sets out various other practices that residents throughout Powell River can do to reduce human-bear interactions, and WildSafe BC helps distribute that information to the community.
• Compost: don’t add meat products or cooked food to compost, turn it regularly and keep it covered.
• Fruit trees: pick ripe and fallen fruit daily. This might also mean picking fruit just before it is ripe to reduce the likelihood a bear will climb the tree for food.
• Bird food: use bird feeders only in the winter. Keep the ground free of seeds.
• Barbecue: clean the barbecue grill after each use. Store the barbecue in a secure area.
• Pet food: bring pet dishes inside and clean up any spillage. Store pet food indoors.
Conservation officers are able to ticket residents who feed or leave attractants available to dangerous wildlife. Encouraging bears, or other large wildlife into backyards may lead to the animal being destroyed as it becomes habituated to humans.
The service suggests that anyone seeing a bear should remain calm, take pets and small children inside, warn others of the bear’s presence, then once the bear has left, check the yard and remove any attractants. If the bear becomes threatening, the conservation officer service can be called at 1.877.952.RAPP (7277), and the Powell River RCMP detachment, 604.485.6255, can also be notified.
“I think we can cohabit well if we’re smart,” said Hainstock.
