A 31-year-old Gibsons woman and her two children had a close encounter with a black bear that they won't soon forget.
Brandy Bakes was at home with her three-year-old son Kolby and two-week old daughter Ocean on Friday afternoon, July 3, when a black bear came a little too close for comfort.
Bakes had just said goodbye to some weekend guests. Her garbage can was full, so she put a bag of dirty diapers on the porch by her front door, meaning to dispose of it later. It was hot out, so she left her porch door open to get some air into the house. That's when the bear came calling.
Bakes said she was preparing to go out and went to shut the door. When she came around the corner, she nearly came face to face with the bear.
Luckily she had her cell phone in hand. She grabbed Kolby and went into the bedroom where young Ocean was asleep. She called her husband, who in turn called police. She then moved a small dresser to barricade the door until help could arrive.
"It was definitely scary. I was shaking," Bakes told The Vancouver Province in an interview on Tuesday. "I just thank God I had my cell phone in my hand."
As Bakes talked on her phone to the police dispatcher, she could hear the bear rummaging around in the kitchen.
Two Sunshine Coast RCMP officers arrived on the scene with sirens blaring trying to scare the bear away from the area.
The juvenile bear eventually left the kitchen and started feasting on two full garbage bags outside.
Cpl. Murray McNeil said the officers used pepper spray to try and deter the animal from the area, but that didn't work.
"The bear circled the yard of the property and began to advance towards the officers," said McNeil. "The bear came within five metres of one of the officers, at which point the officer was forced to shoot and kill the animal with a shotgun."
The whole ordeal took about 45 minutes. Once the area was secured, the officers came into the house and got Bakes and her children out.
Conservation officer Murray Smith said this is the second time a bear complaint has been made at this home.
"We attended last year at the same residence in November because a bear had broken into the garage and got into the garbage," said Smith. "We set a trap for it and the bear was not caught, so we pulled the trap after a few days."
Smith said it was unfortunate in this case that a young bear had to be destroyed, but it was the right thing to do.
"Once the bears get the taste of the attractants, there really is no other choice," Smith said. "This case reinforces that you have to be diligent at all times with your attractants. It's the garbage, the birdseed and the fruit trees in the fall."
Smith said the conservation service had received eight complaints of bears from residents in this geographic area in the past month.
"People don't want to see wildlife destroyed, but if people want to have safe communities and cohabit with the wildlife, then they have to take responsibility," he said.
Bear calls to date are below normal according to Smith, with 150 calls so far. Two bears have been destroyed this year.
"We had a late spring and the bears were a lot later this year, but we had 70 calls in June, so the hot weather has made things pick up," said Smith. "We had 700 calls last year and most come in the fall, so we'll probably be around 500 by the end of the year."
Recently, due to lack of funding, the Bear Aware education program was disbanded on the Coast, but a dedicated community advisory group is still active trying to continue the Bear Aware message.
"There shouldn't be anyone out there who hasn't heard the message," said Smith. "We've seen some great progress around the business community and at many of the resorts and tourism destinations on the Coast with respect to better securing garbage, so credit Bear Aware for that, but there is still so much work to be done. The mentality still exists among many people that it's somehow someone else's problem. It's an ongoing cycle and I don't know whether we'll ever get people and the community to be entirely bear proof."
Smith said the community advisory group welcomes new members. Anyone who would like to get involved is asked to leave a message for Smith at 1-800-731-6373.
