From a Wall Street Journal story by Angela Owens headlined “Welcome to the Tiny Town Where Half Your Neighbors Are Polar Bears”:

CHURCHILL, Manitoba — On a cold morning in this remote Canadian village, a series of loud bangs disturb the quiet hum of residents beginning their day.

A polar bear lumbering through town has been spotted near the cemetery.

Conservation officers, armed with cracker shells, also known as scare cartridges, arrive to push the bear away from residences. The sound of the nonlethal shells fired from a shotgun is enough to deter the bear from going farther into town for breakfast.