Updated: Olga seems to be preferred area
— by Lin McNulty, Managing Editor —
San Juan County deputies have been in contact with Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) about a black bear spotted wandering about on Orcas. There is now a fish and wildlife officer out on Orcas.
The bear is believed to be the same bear that was on Camano Island and Whidbey Island in the last few weeks.
Over the next few days they will be looking at different options to deal with the bear. At this point the bear has not shown signs of aggressive behavior towards humans, but does like getting into bird feeders.
WDFW has information about black bears on their website: https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/ursus-americanus. The public is requested to make reports to WDFW at 425-775-1311 so they can better track the movement of the bear.
UPDATE: The Bear was seen in the Olga area this morning, but there have been no more sightings this afternoon. The Sheriff’s Office was with WDFW’s Sgt. Russ Mullins, who was on scene talking with someone that had the bear on his property this morning getting into his bird feeder.
Back in May/June of 2017, a black bear made an appearance on Orcas. Read those accounts HERE.
Since the State is so generous with grant monies so to provide for human safety in allowing tourists to drive faster to the ferries, why not use some taxpayer dollars to find a mate for the island visitor who, having endured a brisk and lengthy swim, certainly is hungry for more than bird seed.
Additionally, I am sure that Fish and Wildlife has a linguist on payroll fluent in Ursus Americanus who could establish contact and welcome the bear family to town. No temporary lodging at, say, the Deer Harbor fire station, would be necessary.
And where is that wolf pack that Maurice Austin is promoting? Even requiring the sacrifice of a few sheep would be worth it if we could solve excessive tourism and the vacation rental problems in one fell swoop
YES!
The ultimate answer to those pesky .. you name it!
Just smear some honey on .. and presto! maybe he’ll reduce the deer population while he’s at it. Fill some paint-balls with honey and tag’em. yea
I’d go for some tracking hardware so we can follow his progress [it’s a he?] Say, on the new Ursus-app? A new twist to planning your day: track bear, take down feeder?, put away trash?, and don’t get eaten. The average [wired] neanderthal to-do list.