This morning (Sunday, August 8 ) a black bear was spotted in a tree behind the Sturgeon Point Union Church.  The bear was discovered at about 7:30 a.m., and left the scene two hours later, missing Desmond Howard’s sermon at the church by 30 minutes. The bear obviously had other places to be.

The photos shown here were taken by Cacky Phipps and family, who watched the bear from their cottage. Thanks to Cacky for making them available.

This is a good time to remind everyone to beware of bears, and to give them plenty of respect. If you see a bear and believe that it poses a possible threat you can call the BEAR REPORTING LINE at 1-866-514-2327. For life threatening emergencies call 911.

Following a few simple steps can help reduce the chances of human-bear interactions. One of the most important is to reduce the smell of garbage in our village by keeping garbage in closed containers and not putting it out until the night before or morning of garbage pick-up. To learn more about black bears and what you can do to reduce the potential for danger from them, please visit the MNR’s BEARWISE web site.

Careful with fires!

Among summer’s favourite pastimes is time spent outdoors with friends and neighbours around a campfire. Here in Sturgeon Point there is a particular sensitivity to this issue because of the high density of old wooden cottages along our streets that would quickly succumb to a fire. The large number of mature pine and cedar trees are also vulnerable to open flames. The setting of open air fires is governed by the bylaws of the City of Kawartha Lakes. You can read a condensed version of these bylaws here. For the full blown, un-edited version of the bylaw you can click here. This is a serious issue that can affect all of us and deserves our attention. We encourage you to be aware of the local bylaws governing the setting of fires.

Every spring and summer our community is visited by one or two members of the local black bear community. Black bears are rarely aggressive but their presence can pose a real danger to both humans and ultimately to the bears themselves. To reduce the risk of attracting bears into our village, please keep your garbage in bear resistant containers and put it out the morning of garbage day, not the night before. More tips and information can be found on the excellent Bear Wise web site set up by the MNR.

If you do experience a bear emergency, call 911. To report bear problems contact the Bear Reporting Line at: 1-866-514-BEAR (2327).