More and more people are turning in their tree fruit during the second year of a town-wide roundup.
Hendrik Bösch, who heads Wildlife Coexistence Cochrane, says people were lined up at the gate on Sept. 6 waiting to drop off fruit. The initiative aims to reduce human-wildlife conflict.
“Five minutes past 12, we had the first bucketful for the animals. And fortunately, we had a lot of people drop them off that they had handpicked,” he said.
Fruit that doesn’t touch the ground is provided to local food providers, while fruit collected from the ground is sent to the Cochrane Ecological Institute to feed animals in care.
By the end of the day, they had filled 31 boxes.
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Simon Warren, of the town’s parks department, says people have been responding to the campaign.
“We’ve been able to get the word out, and I think the season has been really good. There’s been a bumper crop this year; it’s been wet, and then nice and dry.”
The roundup continues the next two Saturdays—Sept. 13 and 20—from 12 to 3 p.m. at the Town of Cochrane Lagoon, 141 Bow Bend Way.