by Laura Keil
In the 39 years she’s lived at her home on Swift Creek, Valemount resident Joan Nordli has never had such a close encounter with a bear.
The roughly 2-year-old black bear has been paying visits to her hummingbird feeder and drinking out of it. The first time he visited, she moved it higher, but he came back so she removed it altogether.
Nordli lives along Swift Creek not far from a patch of woods. She wants to warn others who live along the creek to take down hummingbird feeders and other bear attractants in case the bear comes calling.
“People get careless and leave garbage around,” she said. “Hummingbird feeders, he will actually pull them down.”
“I got some pictures of him licking up the syrup,” she said (the photos are on film and haven’t yet been developed).
Nordli reported it to the regional Conservation Office. She thinks the bear is between 2 and 3 years old, what she calls a “reckless teenager.”
“They’re fearless. If they want something, they’re going to get it.”
She wants to warn people about the bear, and says if anyone wants more information she’d be happy to fill them in.
