The perception that Iroquois Falls has a lot of bears wandering around its human neighbourhoods lately is backed up by statistics.
MNRF outreach specialist Karen Passmore can’t give numbers specific to the Falls, but has some pretty convincing ones from the ministry’s Cochrane district, which includes Iroquois Falls.
“Since April 1st, we’ve received 73 calls, and 19 of those calls happened in the last two weeks alone,” she tells My Cochrane Now Dot Com. “ This compares to seven during the same period last year.”
Passmore chalks it up to the bears being hungry, because of a lack of natural food over the summer.
“Bears really have about three to four months, July to October, to really put on enough weight to survive the winter,” she explains. “So at this time of year, they’re trying to top up their gas tanks in preparation for hibernation.”
To prevent an encounter with a black bear in your yard, Passmore recommends only putting out your garbage on the day of pick-up; keep your barbecue clean and your bird feeder put away until winter; and pick your remaining crabapples.
