NEWS
EVENTS
Princeton’s newest downtown business Page 2
SPORTS
Penalties unseat Posse in weekend play Page 10
High School awards day Pages 11 and 12
SPOTLIGHT $1.10 Includes TAX
The Similkameen
Volume 65 Issue 40
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Proudly serving the community since 1948 • www.similkameenspotlight.com
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Bear safety in mind Andrea DeMeer Similkameen Spotlight
It’s bear season in Princeton – and everywhere else. In the past week there has been one official bear sighting in town, on Billiter Avenue, as well as a cougar sighting on Huffs Road eight days ago, according to the Wildlife Alert Reporting Program operated by WildSafeBC. But there are lots more bears out there, says Zoe Kirk, RDOS WildSafeBC community coordinator. Spotlight readers have reported seeing bears on the Princeton Summerland Road and Highway 5A near the airport. Kirk confirmed there is a bear currently living in downtown Penticton. “British Columbia is home to 25 percent of the black bear population in Canada,” said Kirk, in an interview with the Spotlight Monday. “There are only two places in BC that don’t have black bears and that’s downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria.” Conversation officers do not count bears or tag them, but Kirk said there are other ways to quantify the bear population including forensic evidence and environmental markers. “It stands to reason that a place like Princeton, in a low lying area on the rivers with that big nice mountain behind you and the flat area in front of you that that is going to be an area that attracts bears...We’ve plunked ourselves as human beings in exactly the same habitat as the bears.” Kirk said the large urban dear
population in Princeton, and the fact that the area has enjoyed a long hot summer, with good berry crops and strong river flows to accommodate fish, contribute to bear habitation. Kirk, who recently gave a bear safety talk at Princeton’s New Beginnings, said education is the key to reducing the risk of human-bear encounters. “When you get a bear coming into town and getting into someone’s garbage and realizing how easy it is to go down the smorgasboard of garbage cans, you get them habitating.” During this season a black bear requires 24,000 calories a day and it has “a sense of smell that is five times better than a bloodhound. A bear can smell a peanut butter sandwich from a kilometer and a half away.” WildSafe BC urges the following steps to promote bear safety around your home. •Store garbage in a secure building until collection day or consider purchasing a bear-resistant household container. •Ensure bins are tightly closed. •Regularly wash all recycling items and clean the bins that contain garbage or recycling. •Do not leave garbage in the back of a truck, even if it has a canopy. •If you cannot store garbage securely, freeze smelly items and add to the bin only on the morning of collection. •Pick fruit and allow it to ripen indoors or pick daily as it ripens. Do not allow windfall to accumulate on the ground. •If you do not want the fruit,
Black Press file photo
According to WildSafeBC the bear population in the Princeton area will be active and hungry until mid November to December..
prune the tree vigorously to prevent blossoms or spray spring blossoms with a garden hose to knock them off. •If you would like to make the fruit available to others, contact a local fruit exchange program or food bank. •Consider using electric fenc-
Weather Watch Wednesday
High 13/Low 3
Thursday
High 16/Low 4
Friday
High 17/Low 5
Saturday
High 18/Low 8
Sunday
High 17/Low 10
ing to protect your fruit trees. If you no longer want to manage your tree, consider replacement with a native, non-fruit bearing variety. •Berries should be picked as they ripen. •Consider replacing your bushes with native, non-fruiting
varieties if you do not want the fruit. •Consider using electric fencing to protect your berry bushes. •Birdseed is a good source of calories for bears and other wildlife. A kilogram of sunflower seeds has approximately 8,000 cont. page 19
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