Skip to content

Boyle bear bamboozles block

Warning to keep garbage inside while bears prepare for winter

BOYLE - Northern Alberta is still a wilderness and as such, interactions with wildlife are common, but reports of a hungry and unwelcome visitor in the Village of Boyle last week had residents on their toes and taking extra precautions to make sure their trash was secure.

Between Oct. 8 –14, a bear was spotted wreaking havoc in the Fourth St. South area of Boyle, opening garbage cans and digging out the contents and in one instance even looking in a resident's window. 

The posts started on social media with Boyle School vice principal Larry Irla sharing security video and a warning for others to lock up their garbage after the bear knocked over his trash can and dragged out the contents. 

“Probably the same one that was in our garbage Sunday (Oct. 4) night! We are down rodeo road by the far back corner of the neighbouring land is the trailer park/school so not that far of a trek,” Melissa Young posted. 

And for six days the bear eluded capture, while the frequency of the sightings and the abuse of garbage receptacles increased. People were wise enough to avoid the animal knowing bears are getting ready for hibernation and are desperate for food.

It was a flash of light that spooked the bear into the waiting trap though and all of a sudden it was over.

Boyle resident Denise Lang-Wells shared her encounter with the bear with the Advocate. 

“We have two rooms — one on the back side of the house and one on the front — we heard the bear rubbing against the room on the backside of the house going around the south side,” Lang-Wells said. “I ran into the spare room at the front of the house and looked out the window and he was walking up the sidewalk right under the street lamp. So, I called my husband Rick and the bear heard me calling Rick because my window was open. So, he just turned then walked right up to me.” 

Knowing the height of the objects around the bear Lang-Wells and her husband estimated the bear to be about four-feet-high at the shoulder. 

“He was right under my window and he looked right up at me; stuck his nose up," she said. “I was excited he was so close.” 

Growing up on Vancouver Island, Lang-Wells said, one of the pastimes was watching bears at the dump, so she was unfazed by the bear’s gaze, so she tried to take a photo and spooked the bear. 

“I grabbed my phone and went to take a picture and my flash was on and that startled him; he went around the side of the house and right into the bear trap,” she said. 

Now that the bear has been captured it has been taken away to be relocated, but residents are still encouraged to keep their garbage locked away. 

Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com  

Follow me on Twitter @HLSox 




Comments

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks