bear cubs – BIG

Despite 40 bears being struck and killed by vehicles driving along Highway 400 between Honey Harbour Road, Georgian Bay Township, and the Town of Parry Sound in August, there appears to be no definitive answer in regards to the number of sightings being reported and the spike in the number of bears killed.

Mike McIntosh, founder, and president of Bear With Us, stresses that it doesn’t reflect an increase in the Georgian Bay black bear population. “That area probably hasn’t changed much in the last decade or two,” he says. Instead, McIntosh theorizes that it has to do with food sources.

“There’s a move around this time of year because of hyperphagia, which means that [the bears] are hungry, constantly trying to fatten up for hibernation,” McIntosh says. “Food sources have become more or less scarce in certain areas, and that makes [bears] travel a lot. And then most of these busy four-lane highways, from what I’ve seen, are even busier than normal.”

As highways become more populated and people drive faster, it makes it more difficult for bears to safely cross. When bears do want to cross a highway, they’ll watch the road from the edge of the woods and wait for a gap, McIntosh says. But their cubs don’t always follow, meaning the mother has to backtrack across the highway to grab them. This is often when they get hit.

McIntosh says the OPP’s estimate of 40 dead black bears along Highway 400 is likely underreported. “The police don’t usually get a call unless the bear-vehicle collision does some damage to the car and maybe they’re needed for an insurance claim,” he says. “In the last month, I’ve seen quite a few dead cubs in the road, which wouldn’t damage a vehicle because they’re the size of a house cat.”

If the province wants to prevent bear collisions, McIntosh says it needs to invest in wildlife corridors, such as bridges or tunnels that help the animals bypass highways, as well as fences along both sides of the road.

As for drivers, the OPP recommends sticking to the posted speed limits, scanning well ahead of the vehicle, watching ditches and shoulders, and using proper headlamps, especially around dusk and dawn.

Diane Fillion is quick to remember the exact moment she encountered the black bears on her rural property in Lac du Bonnet, Man. It was 20 minutes to 2 p.m. on August 28, she says. The incident is hard to forget, especially since it was captured by Fillion’s home security camera.

The Manitoba resident had been in her front yard with her pet rottweiler, carrying a walking stick. The two were venturing into the property’s tree line when Fillion spotted three black bears—a mother and two cubs.

“My dog put one of the cubs in a tree, and then in a flash, the mom went after him,” she says. “It was just a blur of black and fighting. It was terrifying.”

Fillion backed out of the tree line, shouting and trying to make herself as big as possible to scare the bear off. Her dog raced past her and instead of continuing the chase, the bear turned its attention to Fillion.

Lessons from a bear attack

“The next part, honestly, I don’t remember,” she says. “My brain just will not allow me to remember. I don’t know if it’s panic or the fight or flight mentality or your brain only manages what it can handle, but I don’t remember. I just remember [the bear’s] face.”

In the video, the mother bear charges Fillion, who swings at it with her walking stick. But the bear makes contact, knocking Fillion to the ground before running away. This is the part that Fillion doesn’t remember. After getting herself back up, she ran into the house to tell her husband what happened.

When describing the incident to him, she said thought she’d tripped. It wasn’t until they watched the security footage that she saw the bear make contact.

After colliding with Fillion, the mother bear and the two cubs scrambled up nearby trees. Fillion’s husband went outside and sat in his truck, trying to make noise to scare them off while the couple waited for the conservation authorities to arrive.

Recently, a mother bear and three cubs had been spotted in the area, and Fillion says she assumes that these were the same ones.

Reducing human-bear conflicts one garbage bin at a time

When conservation officers arrived at the scene they determined the best course of action was to leave the bear alone and that she and her cubs would eventually retreat into the forest.

As for Fillion, she escaped the encounter with nothing more than a sprained arm, while her dog suffered a small puncture wound. After watching the video, her kids’ response to the video was, “Mom, I’m not messing with you.”

Feature video