If you live in outside town and are sometimes bothered by hungry bears, electric fencing may be just what you need to keep them at bay.
Revelstoke Bear Aware is offering Columbia Shuswap Regional District residents an opportunity to find out more about this option during an electric-fencing workshop on Thursday, November 11.
A statement from Bear Aware Coordinator Janette Vickers said Gillian Sanders of the North Kootenay Lake Bear Smart Program will be the guest speaker for this event.
“She has a great deal of experience running Electric Fencing Workshops in communities around British Columbia,” Vickers said in the statement. “She has personally kept bees for the past 15 years and has successfully coexisted with grizzly and black bears by using electric fencing.”
This outdoor workshop will give participants hands-on experience installing both portable and permanent electric fences. Sanders will recommend different types and models of fences depending upon the needs of participants. She will also discuss proper maintenance, safety, and cost. “Revelstoke Bear Aware is excited to offer this workshop as another option for residents to decrease bear attractants in our communities,” Vickers said. “Electric fences have been a successful tool to protect livestock, chicken, bees, fruit trees, gardens, buildings and campsites from bears. Electric fences prevent bears from becoming both habituated and food-conditioned, and prevent the destruction of bears. So far this year, one bear has been destroyed due to the attractant of chickens.”
This event has been sponsored by the Columbia Suschwap Regional District. To register for this free event, please contact Revelstoke Bear Aware at 250-837-8624 or beaware@telus.net. Space is limited.
