Hey Cowichan!

🐻 Let’s Keep Our Community Bear-Smart! 🗑️

As bears become more active, all of us need to do our part.  By following Bear Smart curbside collection practices, we help prevent bears from becoming food-conditioned and keep wildlife wild and our communities safe.

Here’s how you can help:

✅ Put totes out the morning of collection, not the night before 

✅ Store totes securely in a garage or a sturdy shed between your collection days

✅ Keep your totes clean to minimize smells that attract bears

✅ Freeze food scraps (especially meat, bones, and fish) until collection day

✅ Rinse recyclables to reduce odours

🚫 No tote is truly bear-proof — only bear-resistant. Given enough time and motivation, a bear can break into almost anything. That’s why it’s so important to remove attractants and limit their access as much as possible. The longer a bear spends with your totes, the more likely it will succeed in getting in.

For more information on how to manage attractants and to report wildlife sightings, visit: https://wildsafebc.com/

Call the RAPP hotline (1-877-952-7277) to report any human-wildlife interactions where public or wildlife safety may be at risk.