Bears waking from hibernation face a lack of natural food sources, leading them to look for food in garbage cans and bird feeders.

You can prevent bears from visiting your home and neighbourhood by:

• Storing garbage in waste containers with tight-fitting lids (indoors if possible)
• Waiting until pickup day to put out garbage
• Taking away bird feeders for the spring and summer (you can offer birds natural alternatives, such as flowers, nesting boxes and fresh water)
• Cleaning food residue and grease from outdoor barbecue grills – including grease traps – after each use
• Keeping pet food indoors

Bears entering your community are not necessarily a threat, but it is important to know who to call if you encounter one. The province operates a non-emergency, toll-free Bear Wise reporting line (1-866-514-2327). The line is open 24/7 from April 1 to November 30.

If a bear is posing an immediate threat by showing threatening or aggressive behaviour, remain calm and call 911 or your local police department.

• Visit Bear Wise to learn more about how to avoid attracting bears and what to do if you encounter one.
• Bears will remember their last source of food and return there when hungry, sometimes travelling over 100 kilometres.

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Emergency Situations

CALL 911 if a black bear poses an immediate threat to personal safety by exhibiting threatening or aggressive behavior, such as:

§        Entering a school yard when school is in session;

§        Stalking people and lingering at the site;

§        Entering or trying to enter a residence;

§        Wandering into a public gathering; and,

§        Killing livestock/pets and is lingering at the site.

Ontario Provincial Police is the first responder with respect to an emergency situation. At the request of the police, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry will respond to emergency situations to assist.

Non-Emergency Encounters

Call the toll-free Bear Wise reporting line at 1-866-514-2327 (TTY 705-945-7641) if a black bear is:

§        Roaming around, checking garbage cans;

§        Breaking into a shed where garbage or food is stored;

§        In a tree;

§        Pulling down a bird feeder or knocking over a barbecue; and,

§        Moving through a backyard or field but is not lingering.

This line operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week from April 1 until Nov. 30. Trained staff can provide advice to you about black bear behaviour, how to avoid human-bear conflicts, and how to remove attractants from your property.

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These are the lucky ones.

Two of the seven cubs were brought to the sanctuary after their mom was illegally shot near Haliburton. “They were spotted nursing from their deceased mom when we got the call,” said Jan Kingshott, director of animal welfare at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. The other cubs – all five of them – had to scramble after their moms were hit by vehicles and killed in three separate instances.

“The work that we do here at the sanctuary is not for the faint of heart,” said Linda Glimps, executive director of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. “It’s a roller coaster of emotions and heart-wrenching, to say the least.”

Upon arrival at the Sanctuary, each cub was triaged, provided with first aid, and a plan of care was put into play. “X-rays of one of the cubs revealed two breaks in his left front leg and our volunteer drivers took him to the National Wildlife Centre for emergency surgery,” said Kingshott. “He has since returned and will be closely monitored through his recovery.”

All cubs are roughly eight months of age and, for the most part, started their journey at the sanctuary in an indoor enclosure where they were monitored and received species-specific formula, in addition to solid foods. Later they were moved to a natural woodland outdoor enclosure in a very remote area on the sanctuary’s 460-acre property. As they continue to grow, they will all be moved to an even larger enclosure with various “denning” options in which to hibernate over the cold winter months.

“While they could choose to hibernate on their own, we anticipate that they’ll curl up together in one or two denning sites before making a reappearance in the spring,” said Kingshott.

Bear cubs, who are generally born in January, remain at the sanctuary for an entire year before being released back into the wild the following summer. This is in keeping with the length of time they would remain in the wild with their moms giving them sufficient opportunity to grow strong and learn some of life’s lessons – hibernating and tree climbing for instance. Other animals including raccoons, skunks, deer fawn, coyote and fox – to name a few – have been winding down their stay at the sanctuary and are being released this fall.

Not surprisingly, first aid, food, vaccinations and size-appropriate enclosures (indoor and outdoor) are all requirements for successful rehabilitation and cost a great deal of money. “The larger the mammal the more expensive the care,” said Alison Withey, director of advancement and communications for Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary. “If you’re a pet owner, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Last month, Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary reached out to the community for help with respect to five injured and orphaned moose calves in their care. They had set a goal of raising $50,000 towards their wildlife program by the end of this year. “While our goal remains the same, the addition of seven cubs does raise the urgency of our push for funds,” added Withey. “If you are able to donate, now is the time.”

As a not-for-profit, Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary is solely dependent on the generosity of its donors.  Please visit aspenvalley.ca to discover the many ways to give (including your volunteer time) and learn how to “keep wildlife wild”. They accept the donation of securities and bequests and love it when friends of Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary initiate fundraisers of their own.

The post Seven Orphaned Bear Cubs Brought To Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary appeared first on Muskoka411.

Southern Georgian Bay OPP responded to a report of an animal carcass on the roadway in that area and also became aware of two young cubs and another cub unaccounted for.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) were contacted and attended the scene. The three cubs were safely trapped by the MNRF staff and officers at scene and transported to a wildlife rehabilitator – Bear with Us who will safely release these young bears into the wild next spring.

Although this scenario has a mixed outcome, other situations have not worked out so well for the bears as approximately 40 bears have been struck and killed by vehicles on Highway 400 between Honey Harbour Road, Georgian Bay Township and the Town of Parry Sound during the month of August alone.

Experts have various theories on the cause of the bears wandering outside of their traditional areas but motorists need to be mindful that wildlife collisions do happen. Motorists need to drive within the posted speed limits, scan well ahead for possible wildlife on the shoulder/ditch or roadway and use proper headlamps giving regard to other motorists nearby as wildlife never wear reflective suits and are unlikely to give way to a vehicle if encountered on a roadway.

Cottagers, as the summer season nears to a close, so do the wild food sources that bears count on for their next meal. Leaving untidy garbage cans, poorly cleaned BBQ’s, bird feeders and improper ways of disposing of food products only helps to invite bears and possibly their cubs to your cottage. Please review the following link to help reduce your problems with our four legged friends who live in the bush here all year long – https://www.ontario.ca/page/prevent-bear-encounters-bear-wise

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The Ontario government and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) remind you to exercise caution as black bears begin to come out of hibernation this spring.

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Bears may wander into urban areas in search of food, but not every bear sighting is an emergency. Know who to call if you encounter a bear:

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There are many ways in which wildlife prepares itself for the cold winter months. Some species, such as groundhogs and bears, commit themselves to varying degrees of hibernation. Birds migrate, while wolves, foxes, and moose use various forms of physical adaptation to make it through the cold winter days.

Interestingly, while bears do prepare themselves for a long winter nap, they are not true
hibernators. Rather, bears enter into a “light” hibernation known as “torpor”, where heart and breathing rates decrease, body temperature reduces slightly, and they don’t eat or release bodily waste. After settling into their dens, bears will sleep for an extended period of time, yet can be aroused by noise or warmer temperatures. Bears may even be seen out and about during this period of time. Bear cubs are born in the den in late January or February, while their mothers are in hibernation. Cubs then remain with their mom in the den until springtime. With a litter of one to four cubs, literally underfoot, the time of rest is truly “light”.

Chipmunks are also “light” hibernators. These gatherers collect and cache (store) their food in underground dens. There, they settle into a self-imposed lock-down, waking every few days to feed on their caches of stored food. Once the stashes have been exhausted, they are believed to more fully hibernate.

On the flip side, groundhogs are one of Canada’s largest “true” hibernators. When a groundhog is down for the winter, it is almost impossible to wake up. While asleep, a groundhog relies on its accumulated body fat to survive; coupled with a drop in body temperature and an astounding drop in heart rate from 80 to only 4 or 5 beats/minute. In this reduced state of activity, energy is conserved during the long, cold winter months when little food is available.

Regardless of the type of hibernation, it has little to do with change in temperature. Rather, it is a survival tactic used by animals to weather a scarcity of food. Essentially, wildlife prepares for the winter months by increasing body fat and supplies. After that, they slow themselves down to conserve energy.

Furley (one of our four bears in residence at the Sanctuary), for example, did not hibernate
before making her forever home here at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary (AVWS). Furley lived in a small, cement enclosure situated within a Provincial Park until it was closed down in 2013. There, Furley was fed throughout the winter months, which negated her natural instinct to hibernate. This was done in the name of year-round public viewing – something we are opposed to here at the Sanctuary.

At Aspen Valley, Furley has a large enclosure with her own pond in a cool, shady forest. Here, we begin to supplement her food consumption in the fall, but stop feeding her in November – at which point she takes the cue and goes into a “light” hibernation (as though she was living in the wild).

AVWS is also home to a number of species that do not hibernate. Rather, they adapt to the cold.

Our Arctic fox, Mystic, is a sub-zero specialist who adapts well to the winter months. Her
compact body, short legs, and small ears help to conserve heat, while her large, furry paws allow her to walk on top of snowdrifts. Able to withstand Muskoka’s coldest temperatures, Mystic will often be seen sheltered in her enclosure, with her long, bushy tail wrapped around her head like a scarf. Mystic’s coat also changes colour from grey to white. This adaptation allows the Artic fox to blend into winter’s white canvas and evade predators.

Wolves are largely carnivorous, and by targeting small to medium-sized prey in the wild, they do quite well for themselves during the winter months. This is the time when sick, injured, and weak prey are more vulnerable. It’s the good news / bad news circle of life. Wolves also rely on heavy feeding in the fall and thick coats, which keep them warm on the coldest winter nights.

Then there’s our beloved moose, Ella. In the wild, her contemporaries store up large quantities of fat for their bodies to utilize throughout the winter months. Another adaptation is the extensive thickening of their coats, which can pose a problem when faced with a mild winter. Heat stress and tick infestations are common in moose when lakes are frozen and there is nowhere to cool off.

To learn more about the animals at Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, visit their website.

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The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) remind you to exercise caution when it comes to bear sightings.

The post Be Bear Wise – How To Avoid Encounters With Bears appeared first on Muskoka411.