The B.C. Conservation Officer Service is warning residents that pumpkins are an attractant for bears, especially at this time of year when they are in the hyperphagia stage, which the service describes as an extreme urge to eat food in preparation for winter denning.
To keep them out of communities, the service says it is crucial to secure all attractants, such as garbage, pet food and birdseed. This includes pumpkins.
Conservation officers recommend displaying carved pumpkins in windows only to avoid attracting bears to the front porch.
However, those who want to put their pumpkins outside should do so only on Halloween night and then bring them inside after the last trick-or-treater.
“It is important to limit the length of time your pumpkin is outdoors, especially if you live in a neighbourhood with bear activity,” the service said in a Facebook post Friday.
You may even want to keep the treats indoors, as recently a black bear lumbered into a Cowichan Lake corner store, grabbed some candy, and left.
What did he take?
Well, gummy bears of course.
— With a file from the Times Colonist
