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THE BULLETIN PROUDLY SERVING KIMBERLEY AND AREA SINCE 1932 | Vol. 84, Issue 47 | www.dailybulletin.ca
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Bear sign
Poor berry crop means bears denned up skinny and may have depleted fat stores, leading them to emerge from hibernation early C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
It was an unusually warm February, and March is continuing in the same fashion. Does this means bears will be emerging from hibernation early? There has been some early bear activity in the Kootenays, both east and west, already this year, says Frank Ritcey, Provincial Coordinator of WildSafe BC, but the cause may not be warm weather. “In general, bears do not come out early as a response to warm weather,” he said. “The bigger factor is how much fat they have. A bear with good fat stores will stay in hibernation longer. If the bear is skinnier and the fat reserve depleted, it will get up to find food. “My theory is that we will see more bears early this year because they went into hibernation thinner, because of poor berry crops, among other things. However, there is nothing to prove that theory yet.” There are reports of bear activity in the area, although none in Kimberley yet. In Cranbrook, a black bear was spotted on February 2 — that is quite early, Ritcey says. In Fernie, there have been two bear sightings reported and one in Elkford on January 15.
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“The thing is, with bears there are always some outliers, every winter the odd bear shows up. It could be because their den was disturbed; say a bear denned in a snowbank and someone walked over it. “So far we are not seeing a pattern. There has been quite a bit of activity around Christina Lake and Grand Forks.” However, Ritcey says it is definitely time to start thinking about attractants. “You definitely don’t want a bear’s first meal after hibernation to be one you provided. I liken it to walking by a park bench and finding a $100 bill. You are going to check under that park bench every time you go by it. Bears are like that. If they get fed, they go back. “We’re getting into spring. You want to take down your bird feeders, store your garbage safely, put pet food away. If you do feed your pet outside, make sure the food is put away after.” Ritcey says that when bears first come out they are looking for fresh grass. “Wherever you have grass greening up early, like on south-facing slopes, keep an eye out for bear sign. It’s time to start being cautious.”
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CAROLYN GRANT PHOTO
Lillith Affair continues its tradition of giving. Haylie Cooper, Kylie Newton and Elli Bamsey dropped by the Kimberley Helping Hands Food Bank to donate $2640 of their proceeds. The cheque was gratefully accepted by Cath Oscarson who noted how nice it was that the younger generation thought of the Food Bank.
Slopes for Hope exceeds goal C AROLYN GR ANT Bulletin Editor
Slopes for Hope raised $24,599 for the Canadian Cancer Society this past weekend, and there’s still a lot more coming in. With the fundraising goal being $20,000, organizers could not be more pleased with the result of the day, which saw teams downhill ski at Kimberley Alpine Resort or cross-country ski at the Kimberley Nordic Club. And funds are still coming in. “It just keeps ticking a little higher,” said Jenn Smith from the Cancer Society.
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We totally knocked the fundraising goal out of the park. What a fantastic community!” The opening ceremonies included remarks from Mayor Don McCormick and Ted Funston (Area Manager of Kimberley Alpine Resort) and then the first chair went up. On it were Mayor McCormick, Ted Funston, Ron Jenkins from Investors Group, a major sponsor of Slopes for Hope, and Gord Jenkins. Nine different prize packages were raffled off, plus two separate 50/50 draws were held during the day, says committee chair Sonya Parker.
“Craig Hillman did a great job of emceeing during the day,” said Parker. “He provided colourful commentary on the progress made by the teams of skiers, boosted our sales of raffle and 50/50 tickets, and kept our schedule on track.” - Fundraising awards were given out to the following: - Top Fundraising Youth was Sawyer Popovitch (who is 6 years old), who raised $168 - Top Fundraising Individual was Gord Jenkins, who raised over $4500 - Top Fundraising Team was the Up The Creek Divas, who raised over $1400
• EAST KOOTENAY REGIONAL HOSPITAL
Tamara Garand & Brad Ferrier of Fernie, a boy Summer Caseley & James Kaufman of Cranbrook, a girl Cathy & Greg Eaton of Cranbrook, a boy Kristin Moore & Eric Blair of Rosslan, a boy Jenn & Kjol Bjordal of Cranbrook, a girl Amy & Geoff Walker of Cranbrook, a girl
Feb 3 Feb 11 Feb 12 Feb 26 Mar 3 Mar 3 Mar 3
Keegan Fowell & Cody Tanner of Cranbrook, a boy Alanna & Nathan Laity of Cranbrook, a boy Solange & William Cox of Cranbrook, a boy Amanda O'Sullivan & John Christmas of Cranbrook, a boy Kristen Sharpe & Robert Klewchuk of Kimberley, a girl Jame & Jay Ford of Cranbrook, a girl Antonia Sedlmeir & Cam Yawney of Cranbrook, a boy
Jason Wheeldon
Personal Real Estate Corporation
250-426-8211
East Kootenay Realty