Black bears exist across Canada  (mainly black in the East, but with variations in colour to the west, to the white bears of the BC coastal islands).   

They've always been here. When I was a child, we wandered the woods as our playground, but we were also sent into the woods by our parents. After school in the early spring, I would take my toboggan with a pail on it and go out through the mixed forest behind our home to a hardwood ridge, maybe 1/4 klm away, and gather syrup from the maple trees Dad had tapped. In the summer groups of kids would go out picking raspberries or blueberries. My brother would go out alone after school to meet Dad and cut firewood. The point is, we were always in the woods. We knew bears lived there, we took precautions, being aware of our surroundings and making noise, but we weren't afraid. We seldom saw one.

We seem to have more frequent bear sightings now. Yesterday there was a report of a bear near my grandson's school - just outside the city. Wildlife officials looked but didn't find it. I just hope that this doesn't result in unnecessarily frightening or restricting the children. Let them enjoy their recesses in the playground. Let them ride their bikes after school. Let them live. And leave the bears alone.

I know that occasionally bears can be dangerous. One put a man up a tree in another area of our province recently. He has the bite marks in his work boot to prove how close that bear was to grabbing him and pulling him down. But mainly around here it seems to be live and let live.

As a 12 year old my brother came face to face with a bear in the woods. He turned and ran (not a good idea - he should have backed away slowly). The bear ambled away.

But are there more bears around now? Are they getting more aggressive? Are we encroaching on their territory and putting them in a desperate and defensive position? or are they getting used to human sounds and smells as we and they come closer together? and will the old adage that I grew up with (he's more afraid of you than you are of him. he will avoid you if he can) no longer be true?

I have not seen our resident bear yet but have seen her scat. At our farm, just outside Thornbury. Not typical bear country.

In ontario they stopped or cut back on the beast hunt at one point and did see an uptick in the numbers around. Not sure what the hunting rules are now.

We are overrun with deer though. So that has brought wolves and coyotes back to the area. Bt lots of traffic accidents related to deer. We have a herd of about a dozen that live on or near our property.

We just spent a week in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks south of the border. Both have thriving populations of both black and grizzly bears but, alas, we never saw any (I was hoping for at least a distant glimpse of a griz). There was a rumour of a black in one area we were in but we didn't see it.

Similarly, I grew up going to the family cottage in central Ontario. We knew bears were in the area and hung out at the dumps but never saw them. Our area was developed enough that they rarely came down in the summer when we were there, preferring early spring and late fall when most of the cottagers were gone. We did have our garbage cans stored in a heavy wooden container with a lockable lid to secure them from bears but otherwise didn't really take any special precautions.

The upshot being that bears aren't out to get us. They actually avoid us as much as possible (which is why making noise when you're hiking in bear country helps avoid problems). Bear incidents are usually due to people misbehaving or coming across bears with a reason to fight (e.g. a mother with cubs or a bear defending a food source). Our hostess at one lodge we stayed at in Wyoming says she met a black once and it was the one who fled up a tree. There had been an incident recently but it was because a farmer's dog had a run in with a griz that then pursued it as it ran back to its owner.

I love bears (and sharks and a number of other beasts often regarded as dangerous and terrible) and hope we can always share our world with them. Wonderful creatures in so many ways. If we just respect them and take due precautions when we are in "bear country", then there shouldn't be an issue. We can share our world.

Mendalla

In my area - cottage country in Northern Manitoba - I have not seen more nor less bears than any other year.

Always packages of skat on the road (where I usually walk ringing my bear bells LOL).  They don't seem to bother us at the cottage.  They do bother if people consisently bags of garbage out on their decks (people have wised up to this and generally don't do it anymore).

It is quite common to see a bear somewhere along the road going in to town.  And of course there are always bears at the dump.  Sometime throughout the summer bears will find their way into town going up and down the nearest back lanes where the garbage cans are stored.

This year the berries are plentiful . . . but once they find the town garbage that is what they want.  They will be trapped in a live trap and relocated.

I am not afraid of the bears . . . but I would be afraid/leary if it was a mother and cubs.

Humans can tend to forget that we move into bear territory. Folks believe that they should not have to "bother" with being bear-wise. They want plastic garbage cans for outside the door.  They want the plastic bags of garbage to be put out and not kept indoors until a dump run or collection day.  They want to hang up bird feeders. It is all bear lure. Then they complain that the bear smells what they are offering and comes for dinner. "You don't want bears, you don't invite them", is what I say. We have black bears who share the berry patches where I pick and who rome in the woods where we walk. We don't walk quiet, which is like sneaking up on them. Who wants to frighten a bear and get a fight or flight response? You have a 50-50 chance and being bigger they may choose fight because they know they can take you. We let them retreat deeper into the woods because they hear us coming. We have an apple tree, near the driveway. You can bet the bear is out there, we see the proof. So, you take the dog out and turn toward the yard and not the drive and you pick up all the fallen apples that give off an "are you hungry?" invitation. I am a guest in their woods, they are not a nuisance in mine.

I once heard that polar bears are the only bears that will stalk humans. Anyone ever hear that?

I've heard it but I have heard of grizzlies doing it, too. It seems to be pretty rare in any case. We aren't their normal food source. I imagine in the case of polars, it's because we are suitably similar to a seal (which is what happens with great white sharks in some cases too, or so it's suspected).

Mendalla

I've seen my fair share, both grizzly and black as far as I could tell (some were pretty far away).

Here, it tends to be tourists who are the worst for not behaving properly, but not always.  I remember one time being in the car and a bunch of cars were stopped.  There was a black bear with her cubs, right by the road.  People were out WITH THEIR KIDS, getting closer and closer to the cubs.

Bears are getting more used to people.  There have been hikers for quite some time, but not to the extent that exists now.  Especially when looking at areas that are more difficult to get to, there are more extremists now, people who pick scrambles that go overnight.  Not just a simple day hike.

The first thing the conservation department here asks if you report a bear in your yard is whether or not you have bird feeders.  If you answer that you do, they tell you to remove them first.

One of our neighbours has an apple tree.  One year a bear discovered it.  For several days he ate all the apples on the tree.  For some reason he came to our yard to "do his job".  My hubby was furious picking up all the bear skat off the grass - it filled a big box.

Another thing that attracts bears is the barbeque . . . there is generally always a lingering smell of grease.

I have a similar story from travelling in the south of your province when I was a teenager. We were at Waterton Lakes National Park and pulled off to the side of the road where we could see a bear cub at the top of what was, essentially, a cliff face. We stayed in the car, but could see people climbing up to the cub, cameras in hand. I remember saying to my parents, "these people deserve to get mauled, but I don't deserve to see it - can we go now please?" Just as we were pulling away, we fortunately saw a park ranger pulling up.

Bears-as a child we would drive to the dump to watch the bears at Kenessis Lake-fortunately we now know better for the bears sake-better garbage disposal

In my 20s I lived in Peace River and had a horse. We often encountered Bears on our rides but never any incidents-we'd give each other space.

Wrangling at Emeral Lake BC-and camping just beside the coral-behind the shack-a bear would cross the coral to eat the horses grain and drink from the water trough

Renting in naramata-up the bench-twice we had a bear in the yard-I chased it off from the porch with a broom-the garge containers were bungyied so bear did not get in them

My hope is people and bears can co-exist.

No more sightings of a bear near my grandson's school.  It must have moved on deeper into the woods. 

Bears right in the city is a little foreign to me.  Calgary would get one every few years.  I haven't heard of one here.  I do appreciate that distance.  When I'm on their territory that's one thing, but it's nice not to have to worry about them hanging around a school!

chemgal - in NB it is only a couple of klms from the center of our cities to the forests.  We occasionally get moose or deer coming through the green spaces or along the river and into the centre of town.   Grandson's school is at the city limits.  The forest is just beyond the playground fence. 

In Calgary, I lived by a large park with forests.  We got deer often, but bears generally weren't in the city (when they were it was that park).

My guess would be most major cities don't get many bears.

It was just on the news yesterday that a Canadian Hockey player had a licence (first Nations) killed a bear for head and paws. Lots of heat over this. I found the article but couldn't paste it Anyone else have any luck?

Even here in London, seeing deer in the city isn't at all unusual, especially where we live. We're on the edge of a ravine that's part of a conservation area. I once saw a mother and fawn cross the arterial road that leads in to our neighbourhood. Saw a rotting deer corpse in the creek in the ravine once, too.

Mendalla

I hadn't heard about it CH, but here's a link:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canadian-born-nhl-player-takes-heat-for-kil...

This one describes the clash better:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2013/09/04/nhler_clayton_stoner_get...

crazyheart, my understanding is that BC has a grizzly hunt... and Stoner shot one as a trophy hunt.... It is also my understanding that FN people have fought even licensed hunting in Great Bear Rainforest and they also support a trophy hunt ban.The way your post was worded could lead people to believe only FN are permitted to hunt grizzly or in that area. Or, that Stoner is FN. To the best of my knowledge, Stoner is not

When I read the article, I thought Stoner was FN.  Rereading it though, I think I just mistook the term 'native' after seeing CH's post first.

I don't have an issue with the licences as long as the population is taken care of.  It sounds like more regulations are needed about the carcass though, I don't like the idea of hunters just leaving it.  I don't see a big difference if someone wants to eat the meat or not.  The areas where people are allowed to hunt could be restricted by the sounds of it.

Sorry, I realized after that Stoner wasn't FN but I couldn't copy and paste. Thank you for straightening me out. I think there should be a ban. I can't imagine head and paws hung on the wall.