WESTLOCK — A homeowner in the east-end of Westlock is recounting the unexpected visitor that showed up in his backyard on Halloween night.
Shane Michaels was handing out candy like many residents were at the time when he heard a banging at the back sliding door. Thinking it was trick or treaters or possibly a Halloween prank, he went to investigate.
“I went to the back sliding door and turned on the light and there was a young bear at the door,” said Michaels. “It hopped up on one of the lawn chairs and sat there and you could tell it was in distress.”
Soon after, two RCMP officers who were in the area that night came to his backyard and Michaels motioned to them about the bear. It then took off around the side of the house and hopped over the fence to the front yard.
“With the kids out and the noise in the street, it was pretty freaked out so it wandered around a little bit and then shot up the spruce tree,” said Michaels. “Police cordoned off the area, fire trucks arrived, it was quite the scene. There was a lot of flashing lights and first responders were on the scene and making sure the kids stayed away.”
He said the scared, young bear rested in the spruce tree while everyone around stayed calm until Fish and Wildlife officers arrived with their gear and bear cage to capture the animal.
Michaels praised the Fish and Wildlife officers for their quick work in controlling the bear and the situation and educating the public about the bear cub that night.
“The one thing that I really admire about conservation officers is they are very much about educating the public and sharing knowledge,” he said, noting Fish and Wildlife officer Mike Ewald was instructing fellow Fish and Wildlife sheriff Danika Wittenberg on the proper bear capture procedures.
“She’d never done it (before) so it was a good education for her and within three or four minutes the bear was tranquilized and dropped out of the tree,” said Michaels, noting the cub fell about 10 feet to the ground.
In his five years in Westlock, Michaels said it was his first time hearing about or seeing a bear in a residential area of town.
“I’ve seen lots of bears in my life but I’ve never seen one here,” he said, pointing out the rare opportunity the capture provided for kids and adults Halloween night.
“A lot of these kids will never see a wild animal so this was a chance for them (conservation officers) to say ‘these are animals that live around here and you might never see one this close’, so here’s a chance for them to learn something.”
