"He was smiling": Bear gets too close for comfort for Metro Vancouver family
Seeing bears in BC isn’t necessarily out of the norm, but one Canadian family from Metro Vancouver had a very close encounter with a curious bear.
“My daughter (4 years old) commented that he was smiling at her,” Spencer Ririe told Daily Hive.
The visit took place in Anmore, a small village near Port Moody.
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“I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye,” Ririe said, explaining how the encounter had begun.
He was surprised to see the bear walking past the window.
A bear encounter in Metro Vancouver is rare in the winter when they’re supposed to be hibernating. They’re more commonly spotted in the summer, shuffling through garbage bins.
However, this bear got too close for comfort.
“Unexpectedly, he came right at the window and stood up on his hind legs, placing both muddy paws against the window. I wasn’t ready for that, and put my phone away – grabbed the kid and retreated from the room. It’s not uncommon for bears to enter homes in Anmore; they know how to open doors that have handles (vs knobs).”
In total, the bear hung around for about eight minutes.
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“We had a bear try and get into our garage over the summer while we were away camping, and returned home to some of the vinyl weather stripping being torn away and some light claw marks on the garage door.”
Ririe doesn’t think the bear had any aggressive intentions and was mainly curious.
Here are some tips on how to handle bears in BC.