But Matt, isn’t that the natural habitat of most bears in the Pacific Northwest? Yes, it is, but that doesn’t mean that bears shouldn’t be forced to evolve and, as if storybook characters, come to inhabit homes of their own where they eat porridge and sleep in proper beds. After all, we can’t have them wandering into suburban neighbourhoods that have been happily carved deeper and deeper into a vast wilderness.
Bears are largely olfactory creatures, which means that they have a fantastically heightened sense of smell. They can, for example, smell the residue on barbeques, the content of compost piles and refuse, and the slight perfumed essence of little blonde girls that are sleeping in their beds. Of course, that doesn’t give them the right to actually wander into backyards to investigate, no matter how close those backyards happen to be to their own natural habitat. After all, and as we’re all aware, the wild bear’s thirst for human blood is unequaled in the animal kingdom. Were they to organize, surely they would launch a coordinated attack on numerous Vancouver suburban areas, feasting on the flesh of infants, house pets, and demonically swimming in the blood of thousands of innocents.
“Oh sweet irony!” we will exclaim as their incalculable numbers lumber through our once quiet suburban enclaves, devastating everything in their path. Holed up in basements and tastefully appointed second floor ensuite bathrooms, residents will be forced to dawn Ted Nugent t-shirts in hopes that his image alone might act as some sort of magical deterrent against their bloodthirsty wrath.
If we were smart (unfortunately the jury’s still out on that one) we would launch a preemptive strike. Employing some of the Province’s foremost developers we could set about consuming more of the bear’s natural habitat, replacing it with still more houses and golf courses and strip malls, thus driving them further into the northern wilds. Of course, there’s always the possibility that they might still pose a threat to those neighborhoods buttressed against the tree line - but hey, that’s why God invented Napalm.
All Ridiculousness Aside
In truth, wild bears, unless they have cubs, will run from humans the majority of the time – unless, that is, they are intentionally provoked or threatened, and even then, escape due to fear is commonly their primary aim. For the most part, when in their natural habitat, and far removed from humans, bears are commonly unusually docile given their stature and power as compared to other animals of their size and position within the food chain. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, though it is the bear, not ourselves, that we blame for it.
When I was a child, the city of Coquitlam, while technically coveting a vast area, had not yet began to earnestly develop the woods north of the Barnet Highway. Of course, Ioco and the communities along the inlet had existed for decades, but beyond that the area east of them was largely untouched.
In the 80’s things began to change, as the development potential of the Westwood Plateau was finally realized. Thus, the area between the inlet and Lafarge lake saw immediate development, a trend that would spread north into the mountains, with houses soon dominating the Eagleridge bluffs.
That trend continues unabated to this day. In fact, the majority of Coquitlam’s population is now located in what was once a sparsely populated area. They even moved City Hall from its traditional location on Brunette Avenue to Guildford Way, a road that when I was in my early 20’s was still predominantly lined by woods.
So what does this have to do with bears? Well, that’s obvious enough. With the rapid expansion of homes into the hills, the natural habitat of animals has been significantly encroached upon in a very short period of time. Again, when I was in my late teens and early 20’s, it wasn’t uncommon to hear stories of deer wandering into clear cut areas on the hill completely perplexed as to where the forest had gone. Added to that was a sudden rise in coyote sightings, with attacks on dogs and cats in the area becoming more frequent.
I remember walking to IGA in Port Moody one evening, which back then was surrounded by woods, and witnessing a coyote get hit by a car that was coming up to the lights. It was thrown onto the sidewalk by the impact and lay there immobile. Concerned about the animal’s welfare, I ran across the street and, along with the man that had been driving the car, approached it trying to gauge its injuries. The coyote didn’t move, it just lay there whimpering and making an unusual gurgling sound. Finally, reaching the animal, I realized that it was choking on its tongue, so I did one of the most reactionary things I have ever done in my life – I reached into its mouth and coaxed its tongue out of its throat. The man that had hit the coyote called me ‘crazy’, I remember that distinctly, but the animal made no threatening movements once I had removed my hand. After it started to breathe normally, and came to its senses, it simply got up and roughly lumbered away.
That singular event has stayed with me my entire life and has had a profound impact on how I view human encroachment on Greater Vancouver’s outlying forests.
Despite their behaviour in the wild, the mindset of animals is dramatically affected when their environment is encroached upon and they find themselves living in close proximity to humans. Bears, for example, especially if they are born into such an environment, will include in their foraging traits some dependence on human refuse, among other things. They also quickly lose their innate fear of humans, making them bolder and, at times, more aggressive when confronted. But what should not be overlooked, no matter the fears of those of those that live in close proximity to them, is that we have encroached on their habitat and adversely affected their behaviour by doing so – not the other way around.
If you are willing to live in a new home that borders a large expanse of wilderness you should be prepared to deal with the fact that the behavioural patterns of animals in the area will have been altered. That being the case, you have to take special care when it comes to your pets, young children, how you dispose of your garbage, and so forth. The truth is, animals cannot be blamed for the changes in their behaviour when they are exposed to the introduction of humans into what was once their natural habitat. To think otherwise is ludicrous.
There is an old maxim involving sharks that is applicable here. If you happen to go on vacation to a location where sharks are commonplace and decide to go swimming in the ocean, do you blame the shark for confusing you for something other than a human, or do you take responsibility for the fact that you knew the risks before entering the water? The truth is, the shark doesn’t know that you’re on vacation and that you would prefer not to be confused for something that it might commonly prey upon. It’s instincts dictate its actions, and that is something that we will never be able to change.
So if you do decide to go into the water, do you educate yourself before hand, or do you go in blind and arrogantly believe that you are above being attacked simply because you’re a person? The fact is, the shark doesn’t care what you think, you’re in his neck of the woods, and therefore the rules are entirely different.
That example can be applied to any creature in the wild, even those whose habitat has been encroached upon by humans. In short; just because we have opposable thumbs and possess the ability to make bad horror flicks doesn’t make our arrogance defensible.
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I Am Not Safer Than A Bank
While not commonly mentioned on this website, one thing that I am incredibly dedicated to is animal welfare. Being that I have four dogs myself, I’m obviously affected when I hear stories of animal abuse, no matter the species, and infuriated that it is still prevalent in our society. 