Parks Canada is reminding Banff residents to promptly put away pumpkins after Halloween to avoid hungry wildlife, including three young grizzly bears now without their mom that are being drawn to the townsite for an easy feast.
Wildlife officials say they would like to see pumpkins put away at the end of the night on Oct. 31, so they don’t attract coyotes, deer and elk or even an opportunistic black bear.
But they say there is an even greater sense of urgency this year because bear 64’s three two-and-a-half-year-old offspring are out on their own for the first time.
“We acknowledge people like to display Jack-o’-lanterns in the days leading up to and after Halloween, but our preference is they be displayed inside windows,” said Saundi Norris, a Parks Canada resource conservation officer.
“We ask people to be mindful of where they display Jack-o’-lanterns, essentially making sure they are out of reach from wildlife in those days around Halloween.”
In the past, there have been several occasions in which deer, elk and coyotes have come into town to feed on Jack-o-lanterns left in residential yards or on porches and decks.
Norris said there is a heightened concern this year because bear 64’s cubs were seen regularly on the outskirts of town last week.
“They’ve learned from their mother to be quite tolerant of humans and high human use areas, and it’s a strategy of younger bears to hang out near high human use areas,” she said.
“We’re probably seeing them close to town because they’re quite independent and they feel more secure staying close and away from the more dominant male bears.”
Norris said the bears have been seen on the Banff Springs golf course eating green grass, and even relaxing on a residential lawn in the Valleyview-Middle Springs area on the north side of town.
“Our resource management officers are working day and night to keep these bears out of town. We have someone on call 24 hours a day and we’re even hazing the bears well back into the corridors,” she said.
“We emphasize that absolutely anything – food, garbage, fallen fruit and pumpkins – can be an attractant to these bears. This could cause concern for public safety and serious implications for their survival in the long term.”
There have been no confirmed sightings since late August of bear 64, a 24-year-old celebrity female grizzly that has been dubbed the matriarch of the Bow Valley.
Her whereabouts is difficult to know because a GPS collar that was put on as part of the joint Canadian Pacific Railway-Parks Canada study last year malfunctioned and has since been remotely removed.
Wildlife officials are also not picking up any signals from her ear transmitter, though that was getting towards the end of its lifespan, or she may be out of range.
They are unsure whether she has died at the age of 24, has pushed her three young ones out on their own earlier than her previous litters, or has already decided to head into the den by herself.
Officials say bear 64 went into the den with her three young cubs on Oct. 12 last year, but she has been known to head into her den site as late as Nov. 25.
“We’re optimistic, but it’s really hard to say where 64 is,” said Norris.
Norris said she expects the three young bears will den at any time as the greenery around town, including on the golf course, begins to disappear with the approach of winter.
“It’s largely driven by available food, and if bears in the area are still managing to get enough to eat, there’s not much incentive to den,” said Norris.
“Once it gets cold and the snow falls and covers things up, that’s usually what will trigger them to head up to the den and we expect them to head there soon.”
Meanwhile, the Town of Banff offers recycling facilities where pumpkins can be dropped off.
“Leaving pumpkins out is no different than leaving food or garbage out accessible to wildlife, and it does carry a charge under the National Parks Act,” said Norris.
