The point that Vanessa Elton wishes to make clear is that when it comes to black bears, there are no absolutes.
"Black bears are just as individual as people are," she said. "You could have a black bear who has a picky diet, a shy black bear, an aggressive one or a curious one.
"They have personalities, and they react differently. For me to say follow steps A, B, C and D would be irresponsible." What is important, she said, "Is making sure you don't get into that situation in the first place."
Elton is a GVRD park interpreter and leads programs on how to be bear savvy in Minnekhada and Belcarra regional parks. She has encountered black bears six times in her recreation and while working for Parks BC. The closest was near Port Renfrew on Vancouver Island. "It was the one time I was uncomfortably close," she said. "I was camping and the black bear liked that spot too. My bad. I walked in on that bear."
This is the core of her attitude.
"Bears want to avoid us," she said. "Black bears are not predators, so they are not hunting people. We are a threat to them."
A major thrust of programs run by the province, the region and cities is to educate homeowners to eliminate food sources such as compost, bird feeders and garbage that attract bears away from their natural diet of berries, bugs and fish.
But what's a person to do while taking a walk in a densely-forested urban park?
Elton estimates about a dozen black bears live in Minnekhada and the mild coastal climate precludes deep hibernation, so "bear season" is year-'round. But their active feeding starts with the emergence of skunk cabbage and that's when bear-people encounters begin.
Her suggestions:
To reduce the possibility of meeting a bear, walk the trails during times of peak people passage - bears will have had lots of notice to skedaddle.
Always, always have dogs on leash. If a dog gets too far ahead, it could come racing back with a bear on its tail (or a cougar.)
Make noise. Elton sings, some people carry bells or simply chat. "I am never going to run into a black bear with my school group of Grade 3s because they are so loud," she said. "Remember, bears want to avoid us."
Sometimes, a bear can be caught off guard. If, for example, a bear is at the end of a bridge that is on the route back to the car, don't expect the bear to care - it always has the right of way. "Back off and put as much distance between you and the bear as possible," she said. "Give a bear an opportunity to get away from you."
A bear that does not see a human as a threat is called habituated. A habituated bear is a bear on death row. And people who toss food at bears along the road, or stop to take pictures are habituating a bear, Elton said. Driving by such a scenario with a sow and cubs, she said she honked to scare the bears away. "They didn't get their photo but that wasn't my concern. Those cubs were being habituated."
