Neighbours need warning woman says of black bear

Leslie Thompson was relaxing on her deck near dusk on June 16 when a black beer crossed the field at the 100 acre farm she and her husband Gerry Rowson have on the 7th Line of Eramosa.

Thompson said a neighbour who lives where the bear was headed has young children and plenty of trails running through her forested property, and often walks those trails early in the morning. Thompson wants all her neighbours to know the possibility there is a bear in the area.

She phoned the bear hotline with the Ministry of Agriculture and also contacted the county OPP. She said the ministry representative told her a bear is normal in Wellington County, but she disagreed.

“I said, ‘No, it’s not normal. Bears are not in Wellington County.’ People need to know.”

Bears have been known to show up in here, but they are rare.

Thompson said she rides horses on her property and the saddles have bells to warn deer and wild turkeys that might spook the horse, but she doubts a bell would scare off a bear, and she wonders how a horse would react upon meeting one.

She said her husband also saw the bear. Rowson hunts in the north every year and she said he told her the bear is a big one, probably 200 pounds or more.

“I see a lot of coyotes and this is a first,” Thompson said.

Bears had not been seen for many years in Wellington County but Thompson said the government is responsible.

“They need to bring back the spring bear hunt” is what she said she told the ministry representative.