— from Sheriff Ron Krebs —
The Orcas Bear has finally been caught. He was found inside the culvert trap they had set at an address off of Olga Road sometime last night. Both Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and I feel the best solution for the bear was to remove him so that he was not harmed by someone in the community by either self-defense or being hit by a car.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]It looks like Orcas Island is going to have to find another Mayor candidate.[/perfectpullquote]
During his entire visit to the beautiful San Juans, the bear was not aggressive and enjoyed a steady diet of bird seed, garbage, and BBQ drippings from the grease traps on the backside of most BBQs. He was taken off island last night and relocated this morning in Eastern Skagit County near the Marblemount area. It looks like Orcas Island is going to have to find another Mayor candidate.
If you have any other specific questions, please feel free to either call myself or Sgt. Russ Mullins of the WDFW.
Que up the theme song to Grizzly Adams…..John Denver singing – “Country road, take me home…”
I was hoping he would have come visit me in Doe Bay for my 95th Birthday today.
I was hoping he’d make it to Eastsound Airport, steal a plane and be off to Florida.
Good for you, Sheriff Krebs. But I also wish he had visited Harry Patton. Happy Birthday, Harry.
I think this is very sad. I liked having a bear here. It’ reminds me of the “healthy wildness” about which Robert Bly wrote so eloquently. Please consider discussing this issue further on the Orcas Island Community page on Facebook. I’ve posted a link there about how communities can learn to live with bears. We know that it is quite likely that a bear will swim over again, so let’s get prepared. Bear for Mayor in 2018!!
The bear seemed young and was alone, and was eating garbage and other human sourced food. He/she was exposed to traffic and even to actions of startled humans. I’m not sure why anyone thinks that having him/her living here is a good thing for the bear.
Bears belong in the wilderness.
I must say it was exciting to hear about the bear on Orcas from afar as I am visiting family in Ohio. I do believe the bear is far better off in a wilderness setting and hopefully finding other bears for company!
I hope, as I said before, that the Fish & Wildlife be aware of where he came from, in order to not just “dump” him where he, again doesn’t belong…….
I agree, Margot.
Peg, bears and other creatures have a right to self-determination. The bear would have left of its own accord if it was the unhappy here, just as it left its previous place. We, as humans, think we know what is best for everyone. But do we really? Our actions as a species in recent years argue against it.
To our silent bear – – –
Much gratitude.
A few of our locals, having previously been somewhat disturbed before, have appreciated that he was not a ‘growler’,
if you follow my drift . . . .