Living With Wildlife in Canmore 

It happened a few years ago – we had just cut down our crab-apple tree as part of the “Removing Wildlife Attractants” program. It was a beautiful tree but in order not to attract bears into the neighbourhood we had to remove the fruit every year as it began to ripen and dispose of it in special bear proof food waste bins. It became too much to handle, so, unfortunately, the tree had to go. As a personal reconciliation I spent $300 on a nice maple tree and several shrubs which I planted in our backyard.

Our house is built on a slope and adjacent to a public walkway. Our neighbours, Roger and Jacquie, had their house next to ours but on the other side. There is a corridor between our properties which also serves as a shared access path to our backyards. Our backyards are completely private but we don’t have it fenced in.

That day, our neighbour, Roger, came over and warned us about an aggressive elk in the area. Roger’s job was public safety related and, apart from a watch dog, he had security cameras installed all around the house. Roger showed me the surveillance video of this elk on his smartphone.

In black and white but crystal clear, I saw a dog running down between our houses. The leash was still around his neck but there was nobody on the other end. About two seconds later, we see the dog owner running down the alley - chased by a big elk cow! It was hilarious to watch, but dangerous enough to take it seriously.

The man must have been on the walkway with his dog when the big elk cow chased him off the path, into the bush, through our backyard and into the alley in between our houses towards the main road.

Roger reported the incident and in the afternoon wildlife authorities had put up warning signs “Aggressive Elk in Area” and closed off the public walkway by our house.

If you wish to report a bear, cougar, or an aggressive elk in Canmore you can call 403-591-7755.

This was nice as we had more privacy now without people walking up and down the hill by our property, but of course it came with a price. The price presented itself a little later when I stepped out of our living room door onto our deck. Right there in our backyard, munching on my newly planted shrubs and tree, stood the elk cow. She did not show the least sign of irritation and kept on munching away. I could not believe it. There went my $300 straight into the elk’s stomach.

“Not with me”, I thought! Having lived here for quite a while, I knew that the recommended safe distance between a person and an elk is about 30 meters or 3 bus lengths. The distance between us was only 10 meters but standing in the open door, I felt safe enough to shout at her, swear at her in every language I knew, hold up my arms and make myself big, but to no effect.

We do have bear spray at home, and we also have an extremely loud signal horn that we use during hikes as an additional deterrent against aggressive wildlife. But to use any of these here in our backyard seemed over the top and not following the principle of proportionality.

So finally, I gave up. This elk cow had decided that my backyard was her “all you can eat” buffet and there was nothing I could do about it. “How much damage can a single elk do to a big garden anyway and tomorrow she’ll be gone,” I thought and closed the door.

Early the next morning, I carefully opened the door to inspect the premises. No elk to be seen. I grabbed my coffee and stepped out onto the deck, made a few steps, and flinched…. there she was, lying in the big grass below the evergreen, well camouflaged.

She did not move – just looked at me. And I looked back. For whatever reason my aggressive elk was actually not so aggressive. We almost had something like a connection. I relaxed and in a calm voice started to complain to her about all the mess she had made. Not only had she grazed off my plants, but she had also pulled all the newly planted shrubs out of the ground and with her hooves she had trampled through the flowerbeds, and broke off twigs etc. I silently wondered if there is was an insurance against wildlife damage.

My elk cow never left and we developed an almost trustful relationship. While I was always careful never to get too close and never to be too far away from my door, we spent quite some time together and we talked a lot. She never displayed any sign of an aggressive behaviour. Mind you, this was not normal, and the surveillance video served as a good reminder never to let my guard down. However, it was almost as if she knew that she was encroaching my territory and that I was no threat. I had given up on my plants and I enjoyed watching her. Having her here felt good. She would sometimes wander about and be on the side of the house or on the public path or on my deck, but she was never far away.

On the third day, a miracle happened. I stepped out onto our deck and there she was and next to her a beautiful cute little elk calf. At this very moment I forgave her for all the plants that she had devoured and for all the mess she had made, and all I wished for was for her and her baby to be strong, healthy, and safe. And the thought that our good food and our back yard had helped with this, made me happy.

Unfortunately, I have no idea when or exactly where she gave birth. But I know that it was somewhere in our back yard, under our trees, under our protection. A few hours later, she and her newborn walked away and never returned (unless perhaps one of the elks that still roam our backyard is exactly this baby elk).

Other wild animals that we have seen in our backyard over the years include squirrels, fox, coyotes, lots of deer, a grizzly bear, and a black bear.

My personal lesson from this experience was a reminder that my perception is indeed wrong. It is not the animals that encroach onto our properties. It is us humans who encroach into animal land. We all want to live in big, beautiful houses, build fences around and protect what’s ours. By doing this, we are taking away from the animals the space and food that they need to flourish. So how can we coexist?

We need to be mindful here in the Bow Valley that we are blessed with a beautiful environment that we share with the wildlife. We are the only protectors they have, but we are not very good at this job. Development and human behaviour must be balanced and harmonize with the nature around us.

Take my crab-apple tree…. Berry bushes and fruit trees can attract bears into residential areas, putting wildlife and people at risk. Ornamental crab-apple, chokecherry, and mountain ash trees, as well as buffalo berry are common trees and bushes found in Canmore that are known to provide a lot of food and calories for bears. The more bears visit urban areas with fruit trees and bushes, the more the bears learn where to find this easy food source. This means the bears are “food-conditioned” and are now used to being around humans. This is a public safety concern, which often results in wildlife managers having to destroy or translocate bears from the community.

Bird feeders or garbage that is not stored away properly in bear-proof containers pose a similar challenge.

Being a Realtor, I frequently welcome newcomers to the Bow Valley, and quite often they are unsure about our nature and worried about threats or dangers from wildlife or restrictions related to wildlife. I calm my clients down. There is nothing to worry about as long as you behave responsibly and in accordance with nature.

Once you decide that you want to live in Canmore and the Bow Valley, you should be aware that you take on that special responsibility. Something we demand and expect from every new and present Bow Valley resident: To be an ambassador for our nature and our wildlife – nothing less!

Visit www.wildsmart.ca for more information on living smart with wildlife. Watch the 25-minute documentary entitled Living with Wildlife, which takes a realistic look at the challenges and the constant pressures wildlife face, click here.

THOMAS KRAUSE – CanmoreThomas – is REALTOR with RE/MAX Alpine Realty in Canmore.