It may not feel like spring in Western Canada, but bears eager for warming days are now emerging from their dens.
The first grizzly bear of the season lumbered out of his den in Banff National Park a few days before the rest of Alberta welcomed spring on Thursday to a snowstorm. Watch the video here:
Large males tend to be the first to emerge, as early as mid-March, but on average not until April, while females with cubs tend to be the last out, around early May, according to Parks officials. Be bear aware since the bears are hungry after four- to five months of living on fat stores.
Meanwhile, Mounties in Coquitlam, B.C., issued a warning after a bear encounter in that city a few days ago. A resident called police after a bear cruised by. “The three year-old bear roamed around the front of the house and ate from a bird feeder before wandering off into the darkness of the green belt at the back of the house,” police said in a statement.
Photo Mike Grande/Parks Canada
