“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.
Continue reading Coexisting in Black Bear countryCategory Archives: Animals
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.
Continue reading Frequency of bear raids decreasing in Squirrel Cove
Squirrel Cove Bear Song: Bear in my Bubble
In Saturday’s half hour Cortes Currents magazine, which will repeat at 9 AM on Wednesday, we described a human/bear situation developing in Squirrel Cove, on Cortes Island. There has been a bear in the Squirrel Cove vicinity for a year or more. At this point, there are believed to be two bears. Earlier this month, one of them started breaking into fenced yards to the steal fruit. Manuel Perdisa wrote the song “Bear in my Bubble” about one of these incidents.
Continue reading Squirrel Cove Bear Song: Bear in my Bubble
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.
Continue reading The Squirrel Cove Bear
Friends of Cortes Island AGM
The Friends of Cortes Island Society held their annual general meeting this past Wednesday evening, November 18th.
Continue reading Friends of Cortes Island AGM