A Burnaby NOW reader recently had a surprisingly close encounter with a black bear.
Thomas Tricarico lives on the north side of Burnaby Mountain on Barnet Road. Black bears in his neighbourhood are not uncommon, he said, but standing face-to-face with a rearing mother bear was an experience he says he won't soon forget.
"It was a little unusual this time," he said with a laugh.
Sitting on his backyard patio enjoying his morning coffee on June 23, Tricarico saw out of the corner of his eye what he at first thought was his neighbour's cat go by the hedge, but realized it was too big to be a domestic feline.
Curious, Tricarico walked up to the back lane behind his property and discovered a black bear rummaging through his trash cans.
He ran back inside to grab his camera and quickly returned to snap the shot, but found not just one bear, but two.
"I turned around, and there is momma bear standing behind me," he said. ". Seriously, she had to be like five feet, . and we just looked at each other. I just said, 'That's OK, it's alright,' and tried to back away slowly."
The bear followed him casually to the entrance to his stairs, where Tricarico had time to get another photo, before the bear became too distracted by the smorgasbord of garbage cans lining the lane, and followed her cub.
Eventually, both bears moved on back into the woods, leaving Tricarico with a few photos as proof of his latest wildlife encounter in his own backyard.
Last summer, Burnaby conservation officer David Cox told the NOW he'd received several calls of black bear sightings in Burnaby, but that the bears were not causing any trouble.
He said bear sightings around Burnaby Mountain are an annual occurrence, and people should be sure to keep dogs on leashes while hiking or walking on the mountain, and remember to keep garbage cans and bins securely stored so bears cannot access them.
The Burnaby NOW has also received reports of a bear at Deer Lake.
On Friday, local bird expert George Clulow called the NOW after running into a Deer Lake resident who had watched a bear walk through his backyard and then go into the dense, bushy area below the Hart House Restaurant, just a few metres from the boardwalk on the north side of the lake.
Cox said conservation officers received reports of a bear close to Burnaby Lake and Deer Lake.
"We received hundreds and hundreds of bear reports a day," he said.
Cox suggested people call the conservation officer service report line at 1-877952-7277 as soon as possible after spotting a bear.
