The Editor,
My husband and I rode our bikes this evening to Fremont Playground (near the river, along the Fremont Connector) for a picnic dinner and play at the park with our two- and five-year-old boys.
It was a beautiful night and we had the playground all to ourselves. My husband and I were climbing the tall play structure with our youngest when our five-year-old, face as pale as a ghost, came running toward us.
"Bear! I just saw a bear!"
We thought he was mistaken (he tends to be on the nervous side when it comes to wildlife after a run-in with a momma and two cubs last summer) but, given the area, I ran to grab him and climbed up to the top of the playground while my husband investigated further. Sure enough, 10 feet away from the toddler structure, there were two large black bears barely hidden by the tall grass.
I shudder to think what would have happened if it was our youngest there.
Perhaps the city of Port Coquitlam might think to invest in a fence around the playground, to keep children in bounds and bears out (or at least leave us parents enough time to get away before they climb the fence).
While our family enjoyed sitting perched up on the playground together for 15 minutes, making noise and waiting for the bears to scram so we could retrieve our bikes (near the bears), we won't be going back to that playground anytime soon.
Maybe once winter comes.
Courtney Phillips,
Port Coquitlam
