A family in the West Country had a determined intruder on their property recently.
A black bear trapped the McNair family in their house in Dovercourt area between Caroline and Rocky Mountain House for over half an hour starting around 9:30 a.m. on June 11, said Glenn McNair, who runs McNair Furniture Makers Inc., in Rocky Mountain House.
McNair, his wife Naomi and their two young children, Troy and Erika, are used to living among various wildlife on their acreage along the Clearwater River, he said.
“We see grizzlies. . . . Once there was a cougar looking into our sunroom.”
But this was the first time a bear tried to aggressively get into the house, said McNair.
A black bear, which McNair said he figured was about two years old, padded around the house three times, peering into windows and climbing on top of the hot tub.
“He must have been very hungry because he sure wanted into the house badly.”
The bear even tried to climb onto the roof, tearing off a chunk of eavestrough in doing so.
He pawed at the shed and tried to get into a dog kennel where a new litter of kittens were kept.
“He got into a bit of a fight with the mother cat; she gave him a few swats,” said McNair.
The family locked their doors and felt safe in their house.
It wasn’t until McNair tried to chase the bear away with a rake that he got a bit nervous.
“You can usually chase them away but this one turned and chased me right back into the house,” he said.
They placed a call to Alberta Environment’s Fish and Wildlife Department but were told as the bear was on private property, they would have to take care of it themselves in whatever manner they saw fit, said McNair.
After “snooping everything he could,” the bear finally wandered off.
McNair later found out the bear was at his neighbour’s house, where it killed two lambs and an ewe.
The neighbour then shot the bear, said McNair.
rfrancoeur@www.reddeeradvocate.com