http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... orsPicks_1In This Town, Trick-or-Treaters Have One More Creature to Fear
CHURCHILL, Manitoba—Like many parents this Halloween, Echo Finlay will frighten her kids with tales of scary monsters and bloodthirsty creatures eager to gobble them up.
But for Ms. Finlay, in this Canadian arctic town, those tales are true.
Every Halloween, the "Polar Bear Capital of the World" launches a giant, once-a-year security operation aimed at keeping trick-or-treating children like Ms. Finlay's safe from the paws of the dozens of bears that migrate through here at this time of year.
Helicopters will hover overhead, while police cruisers and firetrucks will circle the town. Officials set large traps with seal meat, and the cells of the town's "polar bear jail"—a detention center for delinquent bears—will fill up. Children are prepped on the best ways to avoid becoming what locals call bear-bait.
"Other parents worry about kidnapping or strangers," said Ms. Finlay. "Here, we know our weirdos. We have a different set of problems."
Starting in August, polar bears begin migrating north from summer mating grounds to Hudson Bay, where the ice from which they hunt seals is beginning to form. For Churchill, situated on the bay's shore, that migration peaks around Halloween. The town and its surrounding area can see up to 20 bears a day.
Ms. Finlay's 4-year-old son Cameron was surprised to learn that the world's largest land predator isn't a part of every child's Halloween. "No bears?" he asked of trick-or-treating in Toronto.
Dressed as a mix of Ninja and medieval knight, Cameron said he isn't afraid of polar bears, which can be as long as 10 feet and weigh up to 1,400 pounds. Come Wednesday, he'll be prepared. "I'll just pop out my sword and start fighting," he said, unsheathing a plastic Samurai sword.
But Churchill's security isn't left in the hands of its children. It will be up to men like Brett Wlock, a state-employed Natural Resources Officer and part of the six-man team dedicated to keeping bears out of Churchill.
On a recent morning, Mr. Wlock was in his office when the "bear line" lighted up. That number is used by locals to call in sightings. "Bear alert," Mr. Wlock called, as he and fellow officer Bob Windsor ran to their pickup truck.
Racing toward a large grain silo at the town's port, Mr. Wlock explained that their job is to "haze" the bear, or frighten it away, without harming the animal. If two trucks honking horns don't do that then officers use a shotgun to fire "crackers" that explode above the bear like a small firework. Paint balls are also fired. "White," said Mr. Wlock.
As a last resort, a bear can be tranquilized or, if threatening lives, shot and killed.
Bear traps are placed around town. They look like giant tin cans and lock the bear in when the animal pulls at seal meat bait.
Captured bears, and those tranquilized after repeated attempts to enter town, are sent to the Polar Bear Holding Facility, a former military warehouse on the outskirts of Churchill. The facility has 28 air-conditioned holding cells, two of which are designed for a mother and her cubs.
"It will be held in the facility for up to 30 days and possibly more depending on the infraction the bear caused," said Mr. Wlock, as an inmate banged on its bars inside. "If it's a bear that caused public safety or property damage or a repeat offender it will be held longer."
That morning's bear alert turned out to be a false alarm. Though bear attacks are rare, every call has to be answered, quickly.
The Polar Bear Alert program began in the 1970s after a series of attacks in Churchill, and a fatality in 1968. Since then, Churchill hasn't had a fatal attack since 1983, and bears have yet to break the Halloween security cordon.
This Halloween, Mr. Wlock and his colleagues will be strategically placed around town. They will be joined by a fleet of vehicles from local law enforcement, an army reserve unit, the local water utility and by ambulances and firetrucks.
As a child, Brandi Spence, 20, remembers bear patrol officers visiting her school ahead of Halloween to lecture trick-or-treaters. "For costumes: don't wear white, don't dress as a bear, or you might get shot," she remembers being told. "Don't have raw meat on you."
On a night when temperatures can dip near to zero degrees Fahrenheit and blizzards are common, children's costumes must also be large enough to fit over winter gear.
But it isn't just children who have to beware of the bear on All Hallows' Eve. Last year, Jen Becker was driving from a Halloween party when she saw a bear behind a man dressed as a monkey. "I shouted, 'look monkey, bear,' " she said. Ms. Becker, 29, opened her car door in time for the monkey-suited man to jump in.
Polar bears pervade the town, whose residents have long lived side by side with an animal that brings both menace and tourist dollars. Shops, businesses and hotels all borrow the animal's name. Its image is everywhere, from statues to the bed spreads, signs and curtains in lodging houses like the Polar Bear B&B.
And the threat of these beasts isn't just during Halloween. For months, Ms. Becker, a keen runner, has been battling a bear concern: How does a runner train for the local Polar Bear Marathon without running into polar bears?
It is a small town. "Where are you supposed to run?" she said.
Most in this town of around 1,100 have tales of close calls and heroic escapes. At a recent school Halloween costume swap, girls traded clothes and bear stories. Khalee Palmer, 10 years old, said one got its nose stuck in a car window after her mother closed it on the bear.
Then there are the bears themselves. At around 8 p.m. on Halloween, Churchill's streets will clear, and the bear patrol heads home. But for those bears cooling their heels in the local tank, their stretch continues. They will be tranquilized and carried by helicopter north to where the ice has frozen. There, Messrs. Wlock and Windsor will release them and bid goodbye.
"You hope not to have to see them again," said Mr. Windsor. "You wish 'em well."
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