Thank you for your comments. WildSmart is an education based program so we do not advocate on such issues. We do however educate. The Volunteer Wildlife Ambassadors hit the trails in and around town each spring, summer and fall and spend a lot of time discussing this vary issue. Some dog owners get it once they understand the impact they are having on wildlife and the people around them, others do require enforcement to change their ways. I would recommend giving bylaw a call and letting them know the area of concern and specific times infractions are occurring. I’m sure the wildlife in the area would appreciate some relief from repeatedly being chased. It is a huge concern during elk calving season and last calving season a dog was killed by an elk. In regards to bylaw, I’m sure the more information they have the better of a job they can do to assist in this issue. Thanks again for your input.

Kim Titchener
Education Program Director
Bow Valley WildSmart Community Program

Recently I observed an off leach medium size dog chasing 2 ! cayotes in the larch islands area, the owner was neaerby and innitiallly did’nt even bother calling his dog back untill I suggested to him, that he should have his dog on a leash.

This dog/owner was lucky, but for me it is also an issue of public/wildlife safety, eg. dogs chasing elk on to the highways, as happened in the past.

Please let me know whether or not you intend to address this issue with the town of Canmore-bylaw enforcement agency.

Yours truly, Gian-Duri Giger

Thanks for your comments on the website and bear report. I asked our local Senior Wildlife Biologist if he could comment on winter denning dates. Please see below.
“The exact timing of denning varies with sex, age, reproductive status,
location, weather. We do not follow the bears here that closely to know
exactly when they entered dens. They tend to move to a denning location
when the time is approaching and work on excavating a site. They will
hang around the spot for a while before actually bedding down. Temp,
snowfall, shortened daylight, and lack of food are all likely triggers.
Bears were all mostly still out this year into early November. I would
not go with some varying date every year and tell people it is now
“safe” to go out in the woods cause all the bears are asleep. Same as we
don’t tell people its safe to go hiking around Harvie Heights because we
have had no recent bear reports there. Dec 1 would be a pretty good
safe bet though”

Additionally to that. Please consider carrying bear spray year round, but keep it close to you and warm in the winter. A grizzly was seen near in Lake Louise on Nov 16th, 2010 so be prepared to run into all wildlife year round. We also had a few people disturb a den in the winter a few years ago and were mauled. Best to be prepared.

In regards to variation in how to handle encounters with grizzly and black bear, please have a look at the Bear safety section. At the most recent Bear-People conflict workshop we all agreed to advise the public to handle bear encounters based on behaviour instead of species.

Thanks again for your comments.

Having been around both black bears and grizzly’s a great deal and understanding the differences in their behaviour, it would be helpful information for sure. Just as reef sharks behave very differently than tiger sharks do, so it is with grizzly’s and black bears.

In regard to web site design, I would suggest a search box, as most informational web sites have.

In regard to informational content, I looked for some indication of the date that bears go into hibernation, and how much it varies from year-to-year depending on food supply, weather, etc… This seems like an obvious one, so I am probably missing it, but didn’t have a search box to do a search. Even better would be to inform with a date every fall as to when it is generally safe to recreate in the Bow Valley without worrying about bears. I assume this date changes every year, so why not post it on the site?… Seems better than, “We won’t be doing bear updates through the winter…” approach.