I recently participated in a project (an effort of Jim McGarvey, Brandroom Creative, Huxtable Productions and myself) to create an environmental brochure with Seymour Golf and Country Club in Vancouver's North Shore, an urban area with a high population of Black Bears. As part of this outreach project, I contacted the NSBBS to get some bear encounter safety tips. I felt these would be good to share here on Turfhugger, thanks to Christine Miller of NSBBS.
The North Shore Black Bear Society aims to reduce human-bear encounters through education, cooperation and community support.
The NSBBS asks that golfers remember these six steps to bear safety on the golf course:
1. Stay calm - Avoid sudden movements and loud noises.
2. Stand still - Do not run! Do not swing clubs or hit balls towards bears.
3. Speak calmly so the bear knows you are not a threat.
4. Slowly back away - Leave your clubs if they are near the bear.
5. Report the bear sighting to other golfers in the area and to the Course Marshall.
6. Report the bear sighting to the North Shore Black Bear Society at 604.990.BEAR(2327) or NorthShoreBears.com
2 Comments
we have wild turkeys on our course that will run after you with their heads down, snapping their beaks like they want to bite you. I'll ask our superintendent to adopt these guidelines, but change the word bear for turkey.
Haha, good point Richard, these are pretty basic and could easily be adopted for other wildlife, or even sales people!
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