Bobcats in the Tri-Cities??

While surfing about information on Coyotes in the Tri-Cities I came across an article from the Tri-City News Paper about a Bobcat sighting. Now, I don't get a hard copy of the paper at my door so I rely on the internet for my news most of the time. This is the first time I have heard about Bobcat's in our area. I knew about Coyotes as I have seen them my whole life, growing up here, but never a Bobcat.

According to Drake Stephens, Coquitlam's Bear Aware Coordinator, he says:
"While bobcats are not known to be a danger to humans, Stephens said residents in areas where the animals are present should lock up their pets. For the most part, the animals will eat rodents and birds, but bobcats, like coyotes, will occasionally feast on a cat or small pet.

Those who encounter bobcats — or any wildlife — are encouraged to give the animal lots of room and make sure it does not feel threatened.

“It is the same with all wildlife,” Stephens said. “Respect their space and don’t try approaching them. You can be injured by a squirrel if you aren’t careful. All wildlife needs to have its space respected.”

Bobcats are widespread across North America and are generally smaller (about 9 to 20 kg) and have more spots than the lynx."

Their lifespan ranges between 12 and 20 years and they are capable of reaching speeds of 55 km/h.

For the most part bobcats do most of their hunting during the early morning hours or in the late evenings and they generally stick to densely forested or mountainous regions.

To read the full story click the link here http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/125175538.html

How to spot a Bobcat. What is the difference between a Bobcat & a Lynx.
To learn more visit http://www.ehow.com/how_8222812_tell-bobcat-lynx-apart.html

Anmore Bear attack | August 8, 2011

On one of my other blogs I wrote about the Anmore Bear attack in Anmore yesterday. After writing that I decided to create this blog. This is the write up I did on my other blog http://moorethoughtsbysam.blogspot.com/
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Another Bear looses her life for protecting her cubs, just from natural instinct.

Just after 7am, Monday August 8, 2011 a mother Black Bear attacked a local resident in an instinct to protect her cubs whom were in close proximity to the resident and his dog who where just on a morning walk.

The man was not majorly injured but did walk away with some minor scrapes from the mother and a head wound from a rock he fell on when he dove down a small embankment in an attempt to get away from the charging mother. The mother stood over the gentleman as he gave him her warning. She then turned around and walked away. The man and his dog then came up the embankment back towards her, which is something you don't do. Don't ever walk towards a bear, always walk away. The dog got away and took off after the mother bear provoking another, unnecessary attack.

The mother bear had two opportunities to do some major damage to the gentleman if she really wanted to but instead she just tried to scare them away, like we would do to them normally. Fortunately, the gentleman's neighbour was driving up the road towards them and sounded his horn to scare the bears away.

The mother and her cubs were well known to the community of Anmore. They were aware of their presence but neglected on containing their garbage properly so not to encourage bear activity in their community. Six weeks earlier the Coquitlam Bear Aware Coordinator did a seminar in the community since the activity of these Bears and others were increasing due to their need for food sources.

It's such a shame that this mother had to loose her life. Simple steps could have been taken to prevent her death and their activity within the community. Now three cubs are left motherless and not stuck in a rehabilitation center in Langley.

Check your local community seminars for any Bear Aware nights. The more time we take to learn about our furry neighbours the safer we can keep our community and our bears. If or when I come across some seminars I will post them here so subscribe to my blog or check back often.

My neice and I recently came face to face with a Bear in Port Coquitlam. Because we were talking to one another the bear knew we were there and was not spooked. We had no issues with him/her who was only a few feet in front of us. http://cait-sam-nature-adventures.blogspot.com/

Sources:
A mother black bear that was shot and killed:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/08/bc-bear-attack.html
Anmore bear pays price for garbage-eating:
http://www.globaltvbc.com/technology/Anmore+bear+pays+price+garbage+eating+ways+following+attack/5224770/story.html
Anmore has to shoulder some blame for a bear attack:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-villages-lax-attitude-toward-garbage-storage-cited-in-bear-attack/article2123449/
They are not man-eaters:
http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/news/127272338.html
Seminar held 6 weeks prior in Anmore:
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Bear+attacks+Anmore/5223318/story.html

Video from CTV.ca (second half features Coquitlam Bear Aware Coordinator Drake Stephens):
http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110808/bc_buntzen_lake_bear_attack_110808/20110808?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
Two (2) Videos from CBC.tv (recommend 2nd video titled "Bear attacks man in B.C."):
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/08/08/bc-bear-attack.html