Hungry Bears, Busy Fall: Living BearSmart in Our Community
There’s a good chance a bear has already walked closer to your house this month than you’ll ever know. That’s not cause for alarm – it’s a sign of just how rich this landscape is. Bragg Creek sits in one of the most biodiverse corners of Alberta, and every fall we get a front-row seat to one of nature’s great feats of endurance.
Why bears are working overtime right now
From late summer through fall, bears enter a stage biologists call hyperphagia — essentially, an eating marathon. With denning season only weeks away, a bear needs to pack on roughly a third of its body weight in fat to survive four to six months without eating or drinking. To do that, they may spend up to 20 hours a day foraging and consume as many as 20,000 calories, hunting down berries, nuts, roots and insects wherever they can find them.
Here’s the catch: a pound of berries might offer a few hundred calories, but a single unsecured garbage bin, bird feeder or backyard chicken coop can hand a bear thousands of calories for almost no effort. When natural food is patchy, that math is hard for a bear to resist — and it’s exactly what draws them toward homes and yards instead of forest.
This isn’t a story about bears behaving badly. It’s bears doing exactly what they’re supposed to do. Our job is to make sure our properties don’t accidentally become the easiest restaurant in the neighbourhood.
Simple things that make a real difference
The good news: most conflict is preventable, and the fixes are refreshingly low-tech.
• Garbage – Keep bins secured indoors or in a shed until your plan trip to the transfer site.
• Bird feeders – Take them down for the season. Birdseed is calorie-dense and bears can smell it from a long way off.
• Compost – Skip meat, fish, dairy and eggs, and use an enclosed bin.
• Fruit trees and gardens – Pick ripe fruit promptly and consider electric fencing around vegetable patches, chicken coops or beehives.
• Pets and livestock – Feed pets indoors and secure animal feed overnight.
• BBQs – Clean grease traps after each use.
None of this is complicated, but it works because it removes the reward. A bear that finds nothing worth returning for moves on and stays wild — which is safer for the bear and for us.
If you do encounter a bear
Stay calm and back away slowly; never run. Speak in a low, calm voice so the bear can identify you as human. Give it space and a clear escape route, and don’t corner it. Keep dogs leashed. If a bear approaches a home or acts unusually bold, report it to Alberta Fish and Wildlife (call 310-0000) so officers can respond before the situation escalates for the bear or for people.
A shared responsibility, a shared privilege
We live somewhere special. Foxes, cougars, bears, birds and everything in between are part of what makes Bragg Creek feel like Bragg Creek. Let’s keep it that way for the bears fattening up right now, and for the generations of neighbours, human and otherwise, who’ll walk through this land after us.
Bragg Creek Wild’s work, from the Art Walk celebrating wildlife on Centre Avenue to our newest initiative, comes back to one idea: coexistence is a practice, not an accident. That’s why we are excited and privileged to share that Bragg Creek Wild recently received first-year funding from the Alberta BearSmart Program, and we’re now designing a comprehensive BearSmart implementation plan for our community and area, covering everything from attractant management to community education.
As a volunteer-run organization, we can’t do this alone. We’re inviting anyone interested in wildlife coexistence to join us and help shape this plan. No experience necessary – just a willingness to help keep our area safe for people and animals alike. Reach out through www.braggcreekwild.ca or email braggcreekwild@gmail.com if you’d like to be involved.
Bragg Creek Wild is a volunteer-run not-for-profit working to protect wildlife connectivity and promote safe coexistence in and around Bragg Creek. Learn more at www.braggcreekwild.ca
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