If bear sightings seem to be more frequent, it’s because they probably are, according to an official with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Reports of black bears from Mill Creek to the University of Washington the past few weeks fuel speculation a trend may be developing, said Bill Hebner, captain of enforcement for the agency’s Mill Creek office.
The consequence of a public initiative from a few years ago to ban bear baiting and use of hounds to hunt bear is increased bear populations, Hebner said. Greater numbers of bears as well as cougars, he added, seem to be a national trend.
The state’s efforts to increase the bear harvest by extending the hunting season have not balanced the scales, Hebner said.
Residential areas are affected as urban expansion continues into wildlife habitats and the animals have no were else to go, Hebner said. This time of year, when bears emerge from hibernation, “they are very hungry and their natural food source (salmon berries and blueberries) isn’t abundant enough to say ‘come over here’ so they are attracted to human food sources.”
Bears are a greater problem in wilderness/urban “fringe” areas such as Monroe, Snohomish, Skykomish and Duvall, Hebner said. Edmonds’ recent furry visitor may have started his sojourn in Snohomish or Mill Creek, “got turned around” and ambled from green belt to green belt from Mountlake Terrace, through Briar and into Edmonds, he speculated.
Fish and Wildlife officers “don’t immediately run out and capture and relocate” bears who show up where they shouldn’t, Hebner said. Transplantation is successful only about half the time due to factors such as unfamiliarity with social activity, water and food sources and travel corridors, he said.
Transplanted bears are ear-tagged so repeated transgressions can be tracked. “It’s a ‘two strikes and you’re out’ policy,” said Hebner, referring to the practice of putting down repeat offenders.
Peaceful co-existence of bears and humans living near their habitats is preferable, according to the enforcement captain.
“It’s a neat thing to have a bear in the neighborhood” if they don’t threaten children and pets, Hebner said. “Most people really are on the bear’s side and want to do what’s right by them.”
What isn’t “neat”, he added, is when bears are intentionally or unintentionally (unsecured garbage cans and pet food left outside over night) fed by people. That leads to loss of natural fear of humans and aggression when human-supplied food sources are threatened.
Killing bears, Hebner emphasized, is “the absolutely the last resort” undertaken only when the aggression becomes dangerous.
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