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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2017-02-22, Page 66 Huron Expositor • Wednesday, February 22. 2017 Fi CHURCH RE.itToRy You are invited to attend these area churches ST, THOMAS ANGLICAN 21 Jarvis St., Seaforth Church Office 519-527-1522 holyspirit@tcc.on.ca Rev. Shaun Eaton - Priest -in -Charge Sunday February 26 Worship at 9:30am followed by coffee hour Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper Feb. 28 4:30-6:30pm • Donation at the door Ash Wednesday March 1 at St. Paul's Clinton with Bishop Linda Nicholls 2pm Everyone Welcome EGMONDVILLE UNITED CHURCH 26 Kippen Road Egmondville 519-527-1991 Rev. Christine Hossack Worship February 26th 10:30 Youth Sunday School 10:30 Annual Meeting 11:30 All visitors welcome Like us on Facebook Web site: www.egmondvilleunitedchurch.com BETHEL BIBLE CHURCH An Associated Gospel Church 126 Main St. Seaforth 519-527-0982 Interim Pastor: Rev. Laurie Morris February 26 - 11 am "Testing the Spirits" Sunday School - 9:45 am March 5-11 am "Let Us Love One Another" Tuesday Evenings: Youth Group - 6:30 - 9 pm B & G Club - 6:45 pm Wednesday Evening: Men's Bible Study - 7 pm• L`\ EVERYONE WELCOME FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 59 Goderich St. W. Seaforth 519-527-0170 Rev. Dwight Nelson Lorrie Mann - Organist g Sunday, February 26 11 am Sunday School as (4'1. NurseryALL WELCOME Needed Postmedia file photo Huron County is a destination for black bears compared to other parts of southwestern Ontario. Bears migrating to southern Ontario becoming more common Shaun Gregory Huron Expositor From numerous encounters with humans, the animal control officer for Huron County has deduced that at least six black bears were in the area and he deems that some of them may now call Huron County home. In 2016, the county's animal control officer, Bob Trick, received more than 30 reported bear sightings in the region. Through a series of investigations involving bear scat in the colder months of the year, he concluding that they are not simply passing through but "overwintering" in Huron County. "There is more than one. I'm likely thinking about five bears," Trick said Feb. 9 in a phone interview. A mother with one cub, a lone Targe bear and a mother bear who has two cubs have been sighted numerous times, said Trick. "[They] were different sized bears, from 150-400 pounds. [Wel know it's not the same hear," he said. The reports of bear sightings come from all points on the Huron County map including Port Albert, Kippen near Home- sville and the China Palace in Clinton. Trick said last summer two dogs that had gotten loose in Clinton had suffered injuries from an encounter with a bear, one dog died in the altercation and the other survived. While Huron County is not considered a primary habitat for the animal in southwestern Ontario, it is currently witness- ing an abundance of bear activity. This increase does not sur- prise Mike Gatt, regional wildlife specialist for the Ontario Minis- try of Natural Resources and Forestry. "It's not your typical bear habi- tat, compared to further north, but they do exist in those areas, adding that this will occur more often if there is a food shortage near the Canadian Shield," he said. The large animals capable of living up to 30 years in the wild will travel far and wide when necessities are scarce, this includes when one of their favourite sweets is in crop fail- ure, which is berries. "They will start roaming more and we will get more sightings in the south," he said, while also saying from previous years, the numbers have increased signifi- cantly in southern Ontario. Confirming reports he follows from Bear Wise, a 24-hour bear encounter hotline, up and run- ning from April 1 to Nov 30, Gatt mentioned that the numbers in the Huron County region are still somewhat low compared to other places like the Bruce Pen- insula. There were 397 occur- rences in that region last year. Currently black bears are not tracked in the province, so there is no way to monitor their movements. But Gatt said the Ministry has performed scientific techniques in the past like DNA fingerprint- ing. This process is done to more accurately estimate the black bear populations in Ontario, which he considers currently "stable, sitting at 85,000 and 105, 000.