A resident, who lived east of Calgary, left us a message in September that an animal damaged the railing of his deck. He was certain it was a bear because, he said, he found its scat. I asked him for saving the scat and visited his yard at the very same day.
Investigation:
After arriving to the property I looked around in the yard that had no fence. I did not find any natural food source that could have been an attractant for bears, except grass which however does not typically attract them into backyards in the fall. This time of the year they are much more after different types of berries as well as fruit trees which I did not find in the yard. I came across several piles of deer droppings. On the deck I found a few broken panels of the railing that were still hanging down from the frame. Apparently the animal climbed onto the deck and, when squeezing through, broke some of the panels. I did not find any hair on the panels or deck that could’ve been a clue for the species. At this point the owner showed me the scat he found. By size, and even shape, it could have been from a black bear or even a juvenile grizzly. However, it was apparently from a dog feeding on dry pet food. It was solid and homogeneous and smelled like dog feces that is distinct from the smell of bear scats.
In the fall grizzly bears dig a lot for roots that makes their feces homogeneous, solid and pale colored, but they are very few grizzlies on the landscape in this close proximity to Calgary. Black bears, in our area, usually prefer to feed on various types of berries and fruits this time of the year to gain fat for hibernation. Since they are originally carnivores their digestive system does not digest fruits well and so pieces of fruits/berries can be often founded in their scats, along with seeds. They will also eat carrion or prey on animals if the opportunity rises, just like any other time of the growing season. If they feed on animals there will be hair and/or bone pieces in their feces.
Garbage containers were also found in the yard untouched, with trash in them. This is important finding, because if a bear had been there, it most probably would have exploited the trash. Human garbage almost always have food residuals that is excellent carbohydrate and protein source for bears.
Solution:
I basically did not find any evidence for a bear has been on the deck or even in the yard. However, the property owner did not seem to be convinced. Therefore, I offered him setting up wildlife cameras to see if the animal comes back at the following nights. He accepted the offer and I set up one camera in the yard and another one on the deck. I went back to check on the SD cards of the cameras in the following afternoon. There had been no pictures made by the camera on the balcony, however the other one in the yard captured pictures of a couple of deer and a large size dog. No bears showed up in the pictures even after a week. At that point the owner accepted that it was most probably the dog that broke the railing panels of the deck and the cameras were dismantled. I told him to contact me if he finds any signs of possible bear activity in the future.