August 13

Was a beautiful morning (as usual).  My friend & I had planned a walk just before noon.  So we met downtown by the train station and walked along the river and caught up on each other's lives.

Shelley had recently returned from Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam etc,, where she seems to be wintering these days.  And although it looked nice and warm and although it was not even mid August, it was cold - about 12 degrees.  Yuk for that, otherwise a great afternoon walking and catching up.

And while I was walking downtown along the river, apparently bears were walking in my neighbourhood.  The following is from this afternoon's Whitehorse Star:

Caution urged as grizzly bears visit residential area

Environment Yukon conservation officers were using trained dogs this morning and early this afternoon to guide a family of grizzly bears away from Hamilton Boulevard.

Environment Yukon conservation officers were using trained dogs this morning and early this afternoon to guide a family of grizzly bears away from Hamilton Boulevard.

A grizzly sow and cubs were spotted at about 9:15 a.m. near Bigway Foods, located between the Granger and Copper Ridge neighbourhoods.

Through its Twitter account, the department was updating residents on the whereabouts of the grizzlies in Whitehorse.  (Looks like I must reactivate my Twitter account)

“They have responded to the dogs and (conservation officers) continue to try and move them,” the tweet read.

As of noon today, the bears were in an area behind North Star Drive, near a gully, said Kris Gustafson, the government’s director of conservation officer services. 

“These bears have been shepherded before,” Gustafson said. “They responded well to human voices.”

The Karelian Bear Dogs the officers are using to steer the bear family away from the residential area had previously been in Carcross.  (Yes, Lisa et al, these were the bears we saw on the way home from Skagway)

In that community, their corralling skills were tested in the Choutla subdivision where two bear families had been repeatedly feeding on soapberries. 

It is an anomaly, Gustafson said, that the B.C. and Alberta contractors with the dogs were in town to help out today.

“They’re getting put to use one more time,” Environment spokesperson Eric Clement said this morning.

As part of the department’s “aversive conditioning” program, the officers were attempting to discourage two bear families from staying in the Carcross neighbourhood.

Aversive conditioning involves the use of something unpleasant– bear-bangers, lights, trained dogs and/or rubber bullets and paintballs – to stop unwanted behaviour.