Wildlife Attractants

Bird feeders are ONLY allowed in our community from Dec. 1 until March 31. We recommend suspending the bird feeder on a cable, so that it can’t be reached by any other wildlife, and remember to clean the ground underneath. 

Do not use bird feeders of any kind during bear season (April 1 to Nov. 30) - it's the law, and you could face a minimum fine of $250. With bears waking up, bird feeders can attract hungry bears into neighbourhoods which puts our community at risk. Bears that access food could injure or kill people or pets and may need to be relocated or killed. Prevent wildlife from accessing any food on your property, including garbage, bird feeders, and fruit trees.

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.

Did You Know?

1. It is against the law to let fruit or berries accumulate on trees, bushes, or the ground? 
2. That you can’t plant new fruit bearing trees or bushes in your yard in Canmore? 
3. Fines for letting fruit accumulate on trees and bushes or planting new trees and bushes can range between $250 - $10,000. 

The Community Standards Bylaw is designed to increase public safety, reduce negative human-wildlife interactions, reduce nuisances caused by wildlife entering the community, and enables our peace officers to address these issues if and when they arise. 

What You Can Do

• Remove the fruit trees or bushes from your property – see Fruit Tree Removal Incentive Program details.
• If you can’t remove the tree, it is your responsibility to remove the fruit as soon as it begins to ripen and bring it indoors or properly dispose of it in a bear proof food waste bin, located throughout the community. The collected fruit will be composted. 
• Fruit-picking equipment can be borrowed from Wildsmart; please contact them at info@wildsmart.ca to make arrangements to borrow the equipment.

Buffalo berry grows along the edges of open areas which often include pathways, meadows, edges of residential areas, water bodies, and also can be present in our yards – essentially areas where humans live and play. In the Bow Valley, the berry season usually runs from mid-July until the end of August. Bears are attracted to this plentiful shrub and will eat tens of thousands of berries each day to store energy for their upcoming hibernation.

The Town of Canmore and the Province of Alberta are trying to keep both the bears and residents safe by removing buffalo berry bushes from high human-use areas. Some areas include Rundleview, Quarry Lake, Three Sisters Campground, Bow River Campground, and along trails in the Canmore Nordic Centre and at Grassi Lakes Trail.

Many residences also have buffaloberry growing in their backyards and gardens. These bushes become a prime attraction to bears, especially in residential areas adjacent to the wildland fringe. Bears feeding in private yards create a public safety concern. Residents can be WildSmart by learning how to identify buffalo berry bushes and remove them from their own property. For more information and to learn how to identify these plants, visit: wildsmart.ca

Feral rabbits in Canmore are domesticated pets that were inappropriately released. They are not native wildlife species.

Feral rabbits are a wildlife attractant and population control is an issue. Short gestation periods and large litters can mean that the population can grow from 2 to 70 within one year. In addition, they cause damage to public and private property and leave a significant amount of feces.

The Town of Canmore's Feral Rabbit Management Program hires a contractor to live trap, humanely euthanize, and store and transport the rabbits to beneficial end-use (such as feed at wildlife rehabilitation centers).  The contractor may also provide assistance to residents who request assistance with removing feral rabbits from private property.  The goal is to control and ultimately eliminate feral rabbits from the Town of Canmore.

The program is most effective when trapping occurs on both public and private property.  If you have rabbits in your area, please consider signing up to allow trapping on your property. Property owners who want the contractor to remove feral rabbits from their property need to fill out this private property access agreement form: Private Property Access Agreement. If you have submitted the form in previous years, simply email feralrabbits@canmore.ca to reconfirm your permission to continue trapping.