The video, taken last Sunday by Coquitlam resident Rose Waldron, shows a barrier-free fight in a cage between two young bears, making the best personifications of the professional wrestler as they do it on her trampoline. Doug Waldron, Rose’s husband, says the bears regularly visit the family yard, which is located near a lake near the Coquitlam River. “This is their swimming point and their fishing hole. It is their country,” he said. “They can go and go as they want. They do not bother anyone.” CLOCKS The fight in the backyard ursine in Coquitlam:
Two black bears are fighting on a backyard trampoline
Coquitlam resident Rose Waldron had a seat in the front row as two young bears had a fight in her backyard. (Accessed: Rose Waldron / Spotbug Press) 1:31
Waldron says bear visits have become so regular this spring that he leaves the gate open so that wandering bears do not jump over his fences.
“We were sitting around a picnic table, drinking coffee or whatever, one afternoon, and a mother and her little ones were coming to the yard,” he said.
“They will notice we are there and they will just come back and leave.”
Despite the significant movement of the fight, Waldron says most of the trampoline has not been damaged – both the net and the platform of the trampoline are not affected by the bear claws.
The fiberglass rods holding the trampoline net, however, broke under the bears’ weight, with Waldron sadly saying he would have to replace them.
“It’s good enough for someone [weighing] “150 pounds or less, I’m sure,” he said with a laugh. “But having an 800 pound bear on your trampoline did not help things.”
Safety tips for bears
Experts say that human-bear encounters are expected in the coming weeks, as the animals begin to move around in search of food after hibernation.
Vanessa Isnardy, program manager for the WildSafeBC awareness group, says people should try not to approach bears that roam near their homes.
“We encourage people, when filming, to do so so that the bears do not know your presence,” he told CBC News.
“We do not want bears to become too comfortable or used to being around people. This leads to a lot of problems.”
It’s not funny. Every year, hundreds of black bears are killed because of the association of humans and their activities with non-natural food sources. Bears that learn to look for food for non-natural food sources are more likely to come into conflict with humans. pic.twitter.com/1VOOK47VmR
– @ wildsafebc
Isnardy says it is important that wild bears do not eat human food, but rely on natural food sources.
“Bears are omnivorous animals. They will eat a wide variety of things if they can get some calories from it,” he said. “If you have leftover spaghetti in your trash, they can go after that.”
Isnardy says people should try to secure their trash cans so that bears can not approach them, preferably in their garage if they have access to one.
“You always want to make sure your yard is tidy, that there is nothing that can confuse an animal,” he said. “It is very important as a responsible person that if you have a bird feeder, keep it really inaccessible to your non-target species.”
Isnardy says yard owners need to take this into account lowering their bird feeders for spring as the bears begin to roam and check their local regulations to see if they can install electric fences to prevent them from entering their yard.
He believes the Waldrons visited one-year-old black bears that will eventually leave their mothers this year and make their way into the world.
With bears coming out of their hideouts soon, now is the time to make sure your litter is safe. WildSafeBC has many tips on how to keep bears away from your litter: – Store rubbish indoors whenever possible – Freeze smelly items until the day of collection or transport pic.twitter.com/fJrwPxIxlh
– @ wildsafebc
“Bears tend to want to avoid humans. They want to avoid our human activities,” he said. “But when we have young bears growing up in an urban environment, they begin to lose this natural caution of humans.
“It’s very important that everyone discourages bears from hanging out in their backyards and communities, [and] encourage them to go to all the natural places where it is safest for them “.