Bear crawled through window of West Kelowna home last week

Photo: File photoA bear crawled through a window into a home in the Shannon Lake area of West Kelowna last week.

Thursday night, the black bear entered the kitchen of a home on Golf Course Drive to get at the garbage in the house.

Conservation Officer Ken Owens says they are aware of the incident and they've set up a trap in the area.

“We remind people to effectively manage bear-human conflicts, it is critical that everyone in the community prevent bear’s access to non-natural food sources,” Owens said in a statement.

“If even a single container of garbage is left unsecured, it will draw bears to our communities and create public safety issues for all residents.

“Bears use their incredible sense of smell to zero in on food sources from many kilometres away. Once a bear has obtained foods like garbage, it will become single minded and become more and more determined in its attempts to access the food source, sometimes going so far as to break into homes.”

If you manage bear attractants around your house, worksite or campsite you can keep your family safe and keep bears from being destroyed.

Owens says there are a number of things you can do:

1. Keep all garbage securely stored until collection day. Store attractants in a sturdy building or place in, an approved bear-resistant trash receptacle. Use bear resistant refuse containers community wide.

2. Manage your fruit trees and berry bushes responsibly. Pick ripe & fallen fruit daily. Remove unused fruit trees. Install bear electric fencing which is cheap and portable.

3. Bird feeders often become bear-feeders, so please only feed birds during the winter months. Take feeders down between April and December. One kg of bird seed equals 6,600 calories.