SURREY — Neighbours in Surrey kept an eye to the woods Sunday for a hungry black bear that was shot and wounded during a killing spree on Friday night.
“It’s a public safety concern,” said Jack Trudgian, a conservation officer dispatched to the area of 96 Avenue and 173A Street to catch the bear. “If we find him, he’ll have to be destroyed.”
The bear was shot in the shoulder by Jim Clarke, 65, a resident who said he was simply defending his pet llama, Evita.
Clarke almost became bear food himself when he spotted the llama frantically running away from the bear on his property on Friday.
“She started running toward me for help and the bear was right behind her,” Clarke told the Province. “It wasn’t a good place to be.”
Clarke quickly grabbed a .22 calibre shotgun that he keeps “for situations like this.” With just a single bullet, he took careful aim and nailed the bear in the shoulder.
“I realize now that it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Usually, that ticks them off more,” he said.
After a tense moment of uncertainty, the bear retreated into the woods, Clarke said.
Evita has since been bandaged and given penicillin for her wounds, but Clarke said she hasn’t been the same since. “She’s still pretty traumatized. She won’t eat.”
But a nearby goat wasn’t so lucky.
George Hoffman said his goat, Robin, was plucked from her stall on Friday and dragged outside, where the bear broke her neck.
“The bear has been here at least five times since the killing,” said Hoffman, who said it got into some molasses and duck food on the property on Saturday.
Once the Hoffman family pet, the goat now serves a new purpose: bear bait. As Robin lay dead in Hoffman’s front yard on Sunday morning, Trudgian took a small, black knife to her front legs.
“This is the day, George! We’re gonna get him today,” Trudgian said as he filleted the white limb.
“Today?” asked Hoffman, 76, as he watched. “You said the bear laid down for a sleep.”
Trudgian placed the legs into burlap bags that would dangle inside a barrel-sized bear trap.
“Yeah, but when he smells this, he’s guaranteed to get up,” he replied.
The blue trap, equipped with an automatic trap door system, was the only one set up in the neighbourhood. A sticky trail of molasses led from the trap to the woods where the bear was thought to be sleeping.
While Hoffman said he’s glad the trap has been deployed, he’s not impressed with the length of time it took authorities to take the issue seriously.
“I called the RCMP on Friday night and they just brushed me off and redirected my call,” said Hoffman, pointing out that it took until Sunday for the conservation officer to arrive. “He’s a good guy, but the system is haywire.”
Area residents should remain cautious as the injured bear prowls the neighbourhood, bear expert Tony Webb said.
“A wounded bear is not a good creature to have around,” said Webb, chairman of the North Shore Black Bear Network.
“If you meet a bear you need to keep the level of conflict down. They have phenomenal, amazing memories. Sometimes for the worst.”
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