| Hudson
Bay Post Archives - Born to be Bad
Polar
Bears Mean Cottage Life in Churchill is Never Dull (Originally
appearing in the October 2004 issue of the Hudson Bay Post)
In
the 1800s, the great arctic explorer, Fridtjof Nansen, wrote,
'the polar bear is an intelligent and crafty animal, but it
is cursed with intense curiosity.' This year, it is cabin
owners near Churchill that are feeling the effects of this curse.
I
am one of these cabin owners, residing at the appropriately named
Camp Nanuq (Nanuq is Inuktitut for polar bear). About 20km (15
miles) east of Churchill, it is a quaint 'cottage subdivision',
although I must say that we use that term loosely up here. Tending
more towards a collection of ramshackle buildings and 'bear proofed'
cabins, you could liken it to a shanty town Fort Knox.
Anyway,
there is a bear out there right now and he is a bad bear. Despite
our Fort Knox leanings, he is quite adept at breaking into (or
simply just breaking) cabins.
Luckily,
one of the co-inhabitants of my rustic little cabin is a half
wolf, half husky named Milo. Now, Milo is very large and very
friendly but hates polar bears with a passion. He even barks and
growls at them on TV. (The other day he challenged the rock in
front of the Churchill Hotel - it is painted like a polar bear...).
So,
when Milo starts barking at 2am, things get exciting very quickly.
I usually keep a pair of rubber boots and a shotgun beside the
bed, for moments just such as this.
In
a flash, I was out the door and into the truck. Of course, I was
still in my pyjamas but now accompanied by green rubber boots
and a 12-gauge shotgun (mind you, I have had bear encounters at
the cabin wearing a lot less than this…).
Now,
chasing polar bears is truly one of the great man-dog bonding
moments. Provided the 'man' is in a truck, of course. We caught
up to him three cabins away, actually in the midst of popping
off one of the nail-board shutters on that cabin.
Milo
loves this moment. Hackles raised, he barks and harasses the offending
bear. As backup, I honk the horn and we 'encourage' the bear not
to associate cabins with food or fun. This night, it ended with
the bear swimming away and us firing a few explosive shells over
its head. That was that.
Or
so we thought. Since then, he has not returned to my cabin (knock
on wood) but has systematically ransacked more than twelve cabins
throughout Camp Nanuq and the neighbouring 'subdivision' at Spruce
Ridge.
Now,
Churchill has its own Polar Bear Alert program, they have handled
over 1,000 polar bears over the course of the program and they
do a very effective job of keeping the town safe (only one fatality
in over thirty years, and that one is a story in itself…).
Officers
from the Province of Manitoba Conservation Department patrol various
zones around Churchill, including 'Zone Two'. This zone begins
just east of the townsite and extends to the 'dump', but also
includes various remote cabin areas. About 80% of the bears are
'handled' in Zone Two.
So,
conservation officers came out and set a polar bear trap - a large
culvert designed to trap a bear inside and safely transport it
back to D-20, the polar bear detention building. Here, bears are
kept isolated until they can be relocated or the Bay freezes up.
They are given only water, ensuring that this experience is not
associated with a 'reward'.
But,
that night, the bear simply pushed the trap around a bit before
moving on to more cabins. It seems he may have seen one of these
before...
The
next afternoon, I spotted him heading inland, across a different
tundra pond this time. Conservation brought out their helicopter.
From the helicopter, a Conservation officer can fire a tranquilizer
dart, loaded with Telazol, into the bear's shoulder. This temporarily
immobilizes the bear without significant side effects, the drug
almost undetectable after 1-2 days.
With
the tranquilizer dart loaded, they scoured the countryside, but
again to no avail. Often, bears cut and run when a helicopter
flies too close but there was no sign of this one, probably hunkered
down in the willows, waiting out the commotion.
It
seems he may have encountered a helicopter before as well.
So,
that's where we stand. The wind has picked up, gusting up to 80
km/hr (50 mph),and he has taken shelter somewhere. This reprieve
may only last a day or two, or may be he will just to go away,
its hard to tell with bears.
In
the mean time, diligent conservation officers patrol Camp Nanuq
and Spruce Ridge on day and night patrols and when they leave
the bear comes back and breaks into another cabin. The trap remains
and the helicopter stands ready.
Cabin
owners lay down their nail boards (3/4" plywood with many,
many spikes driven through them), shutter their windows and perform
a daily check on their homes and repair any damage.
The
overwhelming majority of polar bears co-exist well with humans
up here. They do their thing and we do ours. But every once in
a while, a bear comes along that may be a little too 'intelligent
and crafty' for his own (and our) good. When and if Polar Bear
Alert officers catch this bear, his 'intense curiosity' should
land him a long time in D20, the 'polar bear jail'.
But,
just in case, I'll still keep my rubber boots and wolf dog, ready.
Note:
They did finally catch him (after a few more cabins were 'hit',
of course). It seems he eventually just moved on from the cabins
to the Churchill dump where he did finally end up in a culvert
trap. How did they know it was our culprit? Yellow paint, matching
one of the cabins, on his claws…
-
prepared by Kelsey Eliasson, first appearing in the Hudson Bay
Post, Churchill, Manitoba's monthly newspaper published occasionally
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