Barricades once again bar access to the McArthur Island nature trail and at least one trap has been set following further incidents involving a mother bear and her three cubs.

RCMP Staff Sgt. Grant Learned said the barricades went up at about 2 p.m. Wednesday in an effort to keep people away from the bears, which have been spotted in the area for weeks.

"People shouldn't be walking down the particular trails in the areas where the bears are known to be," said Learned.

The animals' presence is disturbing to some people, he said. But he maintains police and conservation officers do not yet consider the animals to be a nuisance.

In the meantime, he asked that residents stay away from the bears, secure garbage, and pick clean any fruit trees or fallen fruit.

Mark Ibbetson and his wife, Jody, spent Wednesday afternoon cleaning their riverfront yard on Townsend Place of pears, plums and apples following a pair of sightings the night before.

Conservation officers set up a bear trap on the Brocklehurst property that morning in an effort to nab the animals.

Bears aren't strangers to the neighbourhood. Ibbetson said he often sees them wandering the dike behind his home and the same mother and cub have been in the area for weeks.

But he, his wife and five children were trapped inside their house for four or five hours Tuesday night when the bears came into their yard to eat fruit, he said.

Twice it looked like the bears had left. But each time Ibbetson went to investigate, the sow appeared in front of him.

"I slowly backed up and walked away," he said, adding he recognized the bear by a white patch on her belly.

His wife phoned the RCMP and conservation. Ibbetson said the police responded immediately and advised the family to stay inside.

Learned said officers were twice dispatched to the neighbourhood Tuesday night because of the bears.

The bears aren't scared of people, so Learned asked residents to give them a wide birth. He said the mother has warned away one person who tried to take a photograph.

"It ran forward 10 to 12 feet and stopped. It's a warning behavior exhibited by the sow," he said. "If you see the bears, just back away."

Bear sightings in the city are down this year compared to last. Provincial Bear Aware co-ordinator Frank Ritcey said there have been 205 since Jan. 1, about half the number reported in 2011.

"We've had quite a rash of sightings the last couple of weeks," he said, adding there were 22 in the last seven days.

Ritcey said this is the peak season for bears as they fatten up for hibernation. Sightings will likely cease by the middle of next month.

A conservation officer could not be reached for comment.