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    • Video shows bear taking gummy bears from Vancouver Island store

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    Tiptons Gas Bar in Lake Cowichan got a visit from an unwanted patron Monday.

    Footage from the gas station's security cameras shows a bear wondering around the parking lot in the early morning.

    “My husband was here and it was about 6:30 in the morning and the door was open,” said station owner Karen Degoesbriand.

    The bear decided to take advantage of the open door, wandering inside. He walked past Karen’s husband Jay who was manning the store at the time.

    “He looked up and there was the bear,” said Degoesbriand.

    The bear paid no attention to Jay, walking through the store as if he was browsing for something specific.

    The bear bypassed ice cream, chocolate bars, a fully stocked bait fridge and a cooler full of pepperoni sticks, as well as sandwiches.

    Finally, the bear appeared to find exactly what he was looking for.

    “There is a bunch of candies down there and he took the 70-cent bag of gummy bears,” said the store owner.

    Happy with its choice, the bear then left the store as Jay watched in disbelief, only to be taunted by the bear moments later.

    “It laid down in the parking lot and ate his gummies,” Degoesbriand said.

    Roughly eight hours later, a bear matching the same description – black, furry and round – was seen in Tia Tyre’s backyard just across the street from the gas bar.

    “It may be the same bear,” said Tyre.

    “This time of year we have a lot of bears moving around all communities,” said Scott Norris, a sergeant with the B.C. Conservation Officer Service.

    Norris was in Lake Cowichan on Wednesday, setting a trap for a different bear roaming the community that has become habituated to garbage. Currently, there are five known bears roaming the community of Lake Cowichan.

    “We can’t keep up with the number of calls coming in,” said Norris. “We’re getting 10 to 15 calls per day just on the South Island for different bears.”

    This year has been a particularly bad year for bears. In August, conservation officers got 6,000 calls for service in relation to bears throughout the province. Last August, there were 3,500 calls for service.

    Norris is reminding people to lock up their garbage and clean up fallen fruit from fruit trees because when a bear becomes reliant on those food sources, they often have to be destroyed.

    For now, conservation officers will leave this bear alone, hoping that it leaves the area.

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