A southern Alberta family is feeling a bit edgy after they encountered three young grizzly bears on their farm west of Pincher Creek a few days ago.
Keith Lang first noticed the bears as they were passing through his pasture and called his family to come and take a look.
“We walked outside to go take pictures and by the time we got halfway between the houses, they were already coming into my yard,” said Kayla Lang-Furlotte.
The bears started rooting around near one of the houses and then they took notice of the pet ducks that were caged nearby
Keith started honking the horn of his truck and shouting to scare the bears away from the easy prey.
“I didn’t want them to be comfortable in the yard. It’s kind of neat to see them but it’s like, no, get out, you can’t be here,” said Keith.
The Langs have had experience with bears before but say this time was different.
“Usually they’ll just run away or at the very least, walk faster away, but these ones came right in,” said Keith.
“I’ve had ducks for five years now and I haven’t even had to deal with raccoons so to have our first predator experience be some bears, was something to see for sure,” said Kayla.
Fish and Wildlife officers investigated the incident and have provided electric fencing to protect the duck cage.
“That’s not behaviour that I’d like to see. The fact is though, that Mr. Lang was successful in scaring those bears out of his yard site eventually,” said Fish and Wildlife officer, Matias Voramwald.
Fish and Wildlife officers are monitoring the bears and say they're hoping the bears will learn from this experience.
The Lang's say they don't want to see the bears destroyed but they do want their neighbours to be aware the grizzlies are in the area.
(With files from Terry Vogt)
