As spring approaches flowers will bloom, leaves will come back to trees and hungry bears will be digging through your dumpsters.
Angelika Langen the executive director and co-founder of Northern Lights Wildife Sanctuary says the best way to avoid bears at home is to make sure anything that might attract them, like dumpsters, are locked up because wherever they wander and wherever they roam, they'll be looking for food.
"They're coming out of hibernation and they're hungry, they will be looking for anything that provides them with as much calories as possible," she said. "Bird feeders, garbage, fruit piles and those kinds of thing attracts the animals. Keeping those away and locking them up so that the bears can't get to them, that's the best way. That way the bear just walks through your yard and moseys on."
Getting bear-proof garbage containers, avoiding leaving pet food outside and keeping gates to your property closed are ways to keep bears from being uninvited guests looking for a meal at your home.
When you're camping, it's a similar story. Keeping food stored securely so bears don't come to investigate is key to being bear-safe. Langen suggests secure containers and, if needed, hanging food in trees to keep bears from coming to your campsite.
If you're planning to hit the trails, bring bear spray and make noise so bears know you're there.
"Everybody should carry bear spray when they're going out, and know how to use it. That's really important because otherwise, it's not very useful," Langen said.
Parks Canada has an online guide regarding how, and when, to use bear spray. It should only be used as a last-resort tool if a bear is acting aggressively. If you need to use it create a wall of spray between you and the bear, giving quick bursts until the bear retreats.
Bear spray should not be used as a repellent, spraying it on gear or tents can attract bears to the bears and risk affecting you.
Langen said at Northern Lights Wildlife Sanctuary, the bears are just beginning to come out of hibernation.
"The ones that we have in care, they're usually a few weeks ahead of the wild population but we have already had the first reports around Williams Lake and a couple of other areas," she said. "Usually it's singles that come out first but a little later you will have mama bears with cubs coming out."
When it comes to being safe around mother bears and their cubs, Langen said the mother bear doesn't go far from the cubs and generally has a "safety tree" she sends them to if they feel threatened.
"The little ones are not able to follow mom for longer distances, at this time of year if you encounter a mom with cubs you want to give them space because she's not able to take the cubs away from you and give you space," she said.
It is important to always move slowly when giving them space, make yourself big and don't come across as threatening.
"You don't want to start yelling and screaming at the bear. That's just going to make it more agitated and feel threatened itself and feel the need to defend itself," she said. "You can talk to it quietly if you want and then just back up."
She also explained both black bears and grizzlies often do "bluff charges" and don't tend to attack immediately unless you're very close to them and they feel threatened.
Northern Lights Wildlife Facility cares for orphaned and injured animals like moose, deer and bears until they can be returned to the wild. Langen said they often rescue injured cubs and keep them at the facility until they're old enough to live in the wild.
"Coexistence is a relatively easy possibility if we're just being smart about and follow those guidelines," she said, highlighting that if there is no food around for the bears to eat, both you and bears can rest at ease. "If the food is not available, you don't have the bear in your backyard or coming into your campsite."
If you follow Langen's safety tips, you can forget about your worries and your strife (in regards to bears).
