Setting the Social Distancing Standard

Setting the Social Distancing Standard… One Bear Sign at a Time

By: Liz Boles, Chau Ram County Park

The reopening of parks after the initial quarantine closure prompted a flurry of activity as parks like ours rushed to prepare their facilities for the public’s return. In addition to a rigorous cleaning and disinfecting routine, we also wanted to create signage to remind our visitors to maintain social distancing. We came up with a low cost, eye catching design that could sneak in a bit of wildlife interpretation into the social distancing message. I had seen cute signs put out by various organizations like zoos and national parks with similar messages describing the number of animals that make up 6 feet, but I really wanted a strong visual to show them exactly how long that was.

Materials: • Exterior paint (we used black, brown, blue, grey, navy blue, white, and yellow) • Paint brushes/rollers • 3/8” thick 4’x8’ plywood sheets 2’x2’ stakes • 1 ½” and 3” deck screws for mounting • Jigsaw with fresh fine cut blades (don’t forget your PPE! Earplugs and safety glasses, pretty please) • Sandpaper We chose a black bear and a great blue heron for our signs and found clipart silhouettes of these animals online. I printed out the clipart and drew a grid over the design, then drew a grid onto the plywood and scaled up the image, drawing it on with a pencil. You could use a small projector and project the image onto the wood and trace it that way. Next, cut out your animal with a jigsaw. Take your time to get a good cut. After the first copy is made, you can trace your cutout for each new sign you want to make. We made three of each. Paint two coats on your creature with exterior paint on the front and back. We used a base coat of black on the bear and grey on the heron. Add details to bring your animal to life! We kept things simple and took a minimalist approach.

Lastly, we printed off a simple sign reading: “The average male black bear is 6 feet long from nose to tail. Please keep one black bear length apart at all times.” We drove stakes into the ground and attached creatures to them with deck screws. The herons were mounted to trees or existing signage.

We have had such great feedback on our creatures, and they have the added benefit of appearing in lots of photos with visitors. The heron is especially popular as kids love to stretch out their “wings” to test their wingspan next to it! We hope that these signs will make an impression with visitors as well as a reminder about social distancing that will be seen by all that view the photos.