Mother’s Day was especially exciting for Robert and Nancy Dempster, who have been Airdrie residents for 24 years.
Rising just after 6 a.m., Nancy went to her kitchen, which overlooks her half-acre, Thorburn-area backyard. Looking out the window, she saw two brown bears, a mother and approximately two-year-old juvenile, not 30 feet from her window.
Having gained access from the street, the bears were munching on the couple’s compost and seeds from a bird feeder, and lying around the yard.
“It was surreal,” said Robert Dempster, adding he called the RCMP who already heard reports about the bears wandering around in the east-Airdrie community.
RCMP officers, who contacted Fish and Wildlife, came to the couple’s home to try to prevent the bears from leaving the yard. Fish and Wildlife officers arrived around 8 a.m.
After hearing a neighbour’s dog barking, the bears got nervous and climbed into a tree in the yard. Fish and Wildlife officers then tranquilized the animals, dragged them out front and put them into a barrel-like enclosure.
Several neighbours, curious about all the action going on in their neighbour’s yard, came over to see (and touch) the bears.
“People were a little concerned with all sorts of armed people around,” said Dempster. “(A neighbour told me) never in a million years would they have thought there were bears in our backyard.”
Fish and Wildlife officers tagged the juvenile and discovered the mother had already been tagged in the Black Diamond area.
The bears were then transported to the Sundre area where they were released.
RCMP said a farmer had seen the pair southeast of Airdrie and pedestrians around East Lake had also reported seeing the bears.
“They must have walked right up the street early in the morning,” said Dempster, adding that bear scat was found around East Lake.
According to Scott Donselaar, the City’s acting team lead of municipal enforcement, the incident isn’t that rare.
In fact, there have been three sightings in as many years, with bears observed on the north side of Airdrie in 2010 and 2011.
Other wildlife has also been seen in the city in past years, including a moose on the loose around the west side Tim Horton’s and, earlier this year, a wolverine was photographed in Waterstone.
Donselaar attributes the recent sightings to urban encroachment into wildlife habitat.
“If you have an encounter and it looks like there are imminent safety concerns, you should definitely call 911,” said Donselaar. “Don’t approach them, keep a safe distance and notify the authorities to ensure your own safety.”
