Was it the bear who interrupted the golfers or vice versa?
That’s a question being asked after Coquitlam golfers were interrupted last Tuesday (May 25) by a black bear who bit their ball and tossed it away.
“It was totally intentional,” said one of the golfers, Mark Pettie, who recorded the bear’s gesture at Westwood Plateau golf club.
“That bear was seriously annoyed.”
The animal was eating grass on hole 13 alongside another bear when a golf ball from Mike McClenahan landed his or her way.
“We waited for them a little while but had to get going,” Pettie said.
When the golfers approached, one of the bears scampered back into a bush. The other bear went straight for the ball.
“He was like, ‘fine if you wanna interrupt me eating grass this is how it’s going to be’,” laughed Pettie.
Pettie and four of his long-time friends, including Todd Peryk and Gary Koley, play an afternoon round of golf on Tuesdays.
“We enjoy golfing the course because we see as much wildlife as we do. We see bears quite frequently on the course,” Peryk said.
Sgt. Todd Hunter of the B.C. Conservation Services said humans have been known to encounter bears at the Coquitlam golf course.
Back in the summer of 2020, a black bear that charged golfers going through their golf bags was put down – though no such conflicts have occurred at the course this year, he said.
“If the bears are chasing golf balls at least they are not chasing golfers.”
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