Weekend entertainment — with a dash of comedy!
Arezou Kamkar got some unexpected company Saturday night (Aug. 7) when a pair of apparent bear siblings treated themselves to some exercise in their Port Coquitlam backyard.
Around 6:30 p.m., the owner of Watch Me Grow Child Care Centre — located at 3916 Oxford St. — saw the twin black bears climbing along the fence, and the roof of a neighbour's shed.
One sibling was successful on the first dip in the playground, while the other is seen taking a slip and using part of a plant pot for balance.
The suspense ensues as the creature ultimately is seen giving up and falling to the ground after hanging on for a few seconds.
The bear then wanders through the backyard — all while leaving the children's playpens and slides alone — then stepping onto the side of a flower garden to reach the top of the fence once more.
This time, the creature is able to pull itself up before disappearing on the other side.
According to Watch Me Grow's Facebook page, this isn't the first time it witnessed a bear using its backyard as a playground.
Back in June, the business captured footage of a bear and remaining balanced on top of the fence before disappearing to the side.
AUGUST BEAR ENCOUNTER UPDATE
In August thus far — as of 4 p.m. today (Aug. 11) — WildSafeBC has recorded almost 80 known bear sightings or encounters across the Tri-Cities, including 23 in Port Coquitlam's vicinity.
This is according to its Wildlife Alert Reporting Program.
The provincial organization also encourages residents to consider the following tips around bears:
- Keep your garbage in or secured until the day of collection. Garbage is the number one attractant cited in reports to the provincial hotline
- Manage your fruit trees
- Don’t let windfalls accumulate, and pick fruit as it ripens
- If you don’t want the fruit, consider...
- Accessing a fruit gleaning group in your community
- Washing the blossoms off in the spring so the fruit doesn’t set
- Replacing the tree with a non-fruit bearing variety
- Don’t put out bird feeders when bears are active
- A kilo of bird seed has approximately 8,000 calories and is a great reward for a hungry bear
- Keep your compost working properly with lots of brown materials and a regular schedule of turning
- If you have livestock or backyard chickens use a properly installed and maintained electric fence to keep bears and livestock apart
The public is also being reminded to check all of your surroundings when out in the backcountry as bears are known to hang out in trees.
Nearly 80 known bear sightings or encounters were reported in Port Coquitlam between Aug. 1-11, 2021. By WildSafeBC Wildlife Alert Reporting Program
