“This is black bear country. It has always been black bear country. Northern Cortes Island is likely where most of the bears live. Black bears can travel very far in one day and they are good swimmers. They do travel from island to island and there are likely year-round bears here. In the fall of 2019, there was a bear sighted at Blue Jay Lake. Then in April 2020, there was a black bear around Green Mountain. Since then, we’ve had conflicts with two bears: one in Whaletown and one in Squirrel Cove,” said Autumn Barrett-Morgan, a volunteer co-ordinator with the Friends of Cortes Island’s wildlife COEXistence program.
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Frequency of bear raids decreasing in Squirrel Cove
This program was funded by a grant from the Community Radio Fund of Canada and the Government of Canada’s Local Journalism Initiative.
After two very intensive weeks, the frequency of bear raids along Squirrel Cove road, on Cortes Island, appears to be decreasing.
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The Squirrel Cove Bear
Curt Cunningham first encountered the Squirrel Cove Bear while it was still a cub. Not knowing where the creature’s mother was, Cunningham took refuge inside the Cove Restaurant. No mother bear appeared and the cub disappeared into the woods. That was a year or more ago.
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Cortes and Quadra ditched single use plastics long ago
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Two tiny B.C. island communities are well ahead of the curve when it comes to the federal government’s move to ban single-use plastics.
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Whaletown’s Black Bear
Whaletown’s black bear is still on the loose – but its days may be numbered.
This summer, a black bear has made the rounds in Whaletown, on Cortes Island, eating up fruit, stealing honey, breaking in to a chicken coop and even attacking a pig (according to community reports on the Tideline and Facebook).
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