It started out as a regular Sunday afternoon for Jari Palmer and her family until her neighbours popped over to ask if a bear had been seen in the area.  

One of the neighbours had been burning in the field, and thought they had seen a bear wandering away from the fire, towards the Palmers’ farmyard. While chatting with the neighbour, one of the kids spotted a bear in a tree in the yard. 

"We got the kids and the dog in the house, and called the CO (conservation) officers and they told us to try to scare it down out of the tree and chase it out,” Palmer said of the efforts they made to shoo the bear away. The efforts, however, didn’t work. Every time they managed to get the bear out of one tree, it went back up another one. 

Conservation officers came out to the farmyard to try to help coax the bear out of the yard and were even prepared to use a tranquillizer. The bear, however, snuck away when it got the chance, and left the yard, presumably back to friendly environs. 

Palmer told Discover Weyburn it is the first time she has ever had a bear in her yard, but the conservation officers explained it isn’t necessarily uncommon to see a bear here in southeast Saskatchewan. 

“The population is in the Qu'Appelle Valley and the Pipestone Valley,“ Palmer stated. “And there is about a dozen, they said, in the Moose Mountain (Provincial) Park.” 

The conservation officers who responded told Palmer the bears are generally more scared of people than we are of them. Part of the reason for going up into the tree, according to the officer, was due to the fear. 

While the bear itself was brown, it was actually a black bear, which is common in many parts of western Canada. Black bears can actually be black, brown, blond or cinnamon in colour. 

The province reminds residents that bears are generally looking for easy access to food, so leaving garbage and pet food outdoors can attract bears and other animals.  

If you come into contact with a large predator such as a bear, you should contact your local Ministry of Environment officer or call the TIPP line at 1-800-667-7561.