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Rob Beaulieu has lived on Cedar Heights Road at the far north end of North Bay since 2008.
He says he has never seen this many bears around their neighbourhood in the summertime.
"I was driving home from the grocery store Monday on my motorcycle and there was the biggest bear I've ever seen standing on a property where the garbage was all torn up," he said.
Beaulieu estimated the bear weighed "300 or 400 pounds."
That was not even his first sighting in the last week.
"In the last week, I have seen three bears and they are all different sizes on my street," he said.
Beaulieu has called in complaints about some neighbours not protecting or cleaning up their garbage which he believes is attracting hungry bears of all sizes.
"There probably wasn't a lot of choke cherries, a lot of blueberries, a lot for the bear feed," he said.
"It's been a hot, beautiful summer, and it's extended, actually, because the weather we're getting now is like something we don't normally get in September. We usually get this in early August and July, correct? And they're still looking to fatten up."
The North Bay Police have been getting numerous bear calls as well this summer.
Chief Daryl Longworth, who took over the top cop's job in March has been surprised by the bear calls coming in to police.
"This is unusual, this is new territory for me," said Longworth, who spent most of his policing career working in Ontario locales London and Woodstock.
"I do know our officers do take calls like that seriously. We do care about the safety of our community, and I think we put out some media releases educating the public on what they can and should do to protect themselves, protect their pets, but at the same time, the primary response for those kinds of calls should be to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
"Obviously, if it's an emergency and there's danger to the public or potential danger to the public, absolutely call the police will respond, but ministry and national resources should be the primary call and we'll we'll deal with them and help them and respond as needed."
The Ministry of Natural Resources sent out a media release on Tuesday addressing the North Bay bear problem.
"The Ontario government is reminding area residents to be aware of bear sightings in the North Bay area and take the necessary steps to avoid attracting bears into local neighbourhoods," said the MNR in a release.
"In the past two weeks, there have been increased bear sightings in the city of North Bay and surrounding areas. Of these reported incidents, the majority have involved items such as garbage, recycling, apple trees, and bird and/or deer feeders.
"It’s important to note that the same bear can result in multiple sightings. The Ontario government is reminding the public that bears are often attracted to things such as garbage, bird food including suet, seed and nectar, odours from barbecues, and ripe fruit left on trees or the ground. Removing these attractants can help keep bears out of the area."
If a bear poses an immediate threat to public safety by exhibiting threatening or aggressive behaviour, call 911 or your local police at 705-472-1234.
For advice on removing bear attractants, call the Bear Wise reporting line toll-free at 1-866-514- 2327, hearing impaired (TTY) 1-705-945-7641. You will be connected with a live operator during bear season (open this year March 1 to November 30)
