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Bears are back in Williams Lake

Bears are back in Williams Lake and conservation officers put down their first bear of the season last Saturday.
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Justyn Bell

While they may be arriving a few weeks later than last year, the bears are back in Williams Lake and conservation officers put down their first bear of the season last Saturday.

“We did take one out up near Commodore Heights area on Saturday, Sept. 14,” confirmed Justyn Bell of the Conservation Officer Service in Williams Lake. “It had lost its fear of humans and was very comfortable in people’s yards in mid-day.”

When Bell showed up at Commodore Heights Saturday, he determined the bear had no intention of leaving, he said.

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, around 2 p.m., staff at Nesika elementary school noticed a bear outside the school fence and called the COS.

“At the very end of the day we had one outside the fence at the end of our property here,” said Nesika vice-principal Yvonne Davis. “It was never near the school.”

Staff let everyone know, and the RCMP came and by the end of school the bear was gone, Davis said.

She did not see the bear because she was teaching at the time, however, said there was one seen near Cataline elementary school and one treed on 11th Avenue.

Bell said his office received calls about a bear seen near Clarke Avenue and confirmed it was a different bear than the one seen at Nesika.

“I currently have a trap out for that one seen near Clarke Avenue,” he said, adding that bear has a history of being in the neighbourhood the last several nights.

It is getting “quite comfortable” amongst the people and the residences, Bell said.

Bell wasn’t able to attend to the bear at Nesika and contacted the Williams Lake RCMP to attend.

“Later when I drove around the neighbourhoods of 12th and 11th Avenues yesterday there were tons of fruit trees all over the place,” Bell said. “People need to pick the fruit off the trees and the ground.”

The public is reminded to pick fruit off trees and properly care for garage, all of which attracts bears.