Bears love pumpkins.
So bring your jack-o-lanterns indoors at night, advises WildsafeBC’s local co-ordinator.
“Yes, pumpkins are most definitely a wildlife attractant,” says Lisa Thomson. “Particularly when carved and left outside. Bears, skunks, raccoons and rats all enjoy pumpkins.”
Thomson encourages people to store pumpkins overnight in a cool, dry place and to dispose of them in the garbage rather than dumping them in the woods.
This is important Halloween news considering that the Rail Trail above Nelson is still closed due to the presence of a grizzly bear and two cubs. The city’s Gyro Park is also closed because of sightings of a black bear with four cubs.
The bears in Nelson have not exhibited any aggressive or conflict behaviour, Thomson says, and she asks the public to give them space in the hopes they move on from the area to den for the winter.
READ MORE:
• Nelson’s Gyro Park temporarily closed due to bear activity
• Mother grizzly, 2 cubs still in Nelson; Rail Trail remains closed
