Bears Awake and in the Neighborhood
There have been multiple bear sightings in the Snoqualmie Ridge area over the past week, May 29, 2014 – June 4, 2014.
In the Snoqualmie Ridge neighborhood of Aster Creek, near Jacobia Street and Snoqualmie Parkway, there were three bear sightings between Saturday, May 31st and Monday, June 2nd, with police being called to one incident.
One resident reported two bears near the Jacobia and Snoqulmie Parkway intersection around 6AM Saturday, May 31st. Another resident spotted a bear in that same area, the same weekend. She said that bear had on a tracking collar and was “basically at a townhouse front door” before it ran into the nearby greenbelt.
On Monday, June 2nd, at 8:45AM, Megan Roberts, who lives in the Mt. Si Cottages located in this same area, reported another bear sighting. She said it was scary as kids were outside playing and at the bus stop.
She said a Snoqualmie Police Officer and Fish and Wildlife officer responded with “guns and tranquilizers” because of children outside in the vicinity. Roberts said one family was late to school as the cottage homes do not have garages and the bear was in their backyard area – limiting access to the family car that is parked there.
Bears Crossing Parkway
Also, between Monday, June 2nd, and Wednesday, June 4th, three drivers said they spotted bears on Snoqualmie Parkway, with two drivers stopping to let the bears cross the busy 4-lane road.
Friday, May 30th, a homeowner recorded another bear stealing a whole garbage can from a backyard, hoisting the can over the fence with his mouth in the Braeburn area of Snoqualmie Ridge.
Report Bear Sightings to Snoqualmie Police
According to the Snoqualmie Police Department, bear sightings should be reported to 911 so that officers can mitigate bear and human interaction. 911 dispatchers will notify the Snoqualmie Police Department. The department then tracks and coordinates a response from the Department of Fish and Wildlife as needed.
For more information on Living with Black Bears visit the Department of Fish and Wildlife website.
Comments
What to do? Every year we see bear in our neighborhood with one to two cubs. We’ve lived in the area for thirty years, so that’s approximately 40 new bear…how many times over can we multiply that for the entire Valley! We continue to develop woodlands, squeezing more and more creatures into an ever-shrinking habitat. I wonder what the percentage is of those that stay in the area and those that head for, or over, the mountains.
I’m 29 and have spent my entire life in Snoqualmie. Back in 2007 I bought one of these affordable houses/cottages. Quadrant trying to do the project as cheaply as possible didn’t build garages, therefore we must keep our garbage cans on our patio. Every night for the past week I have had the bear at my neighbors can knocking it over, I chase the bear away every single time. We pay $225 a month in HOA dues, and have been told we will be fined if the bear gets in our garbage, so we must keep garbage inside our house all week until garbage day, or upgrade to significantly more expensive bear proof cans (once again, low income housing). The bear problem could be solved if all homes had a garage, and if we were allowed to use a locking dumpster or build sheds to keep our cans in. It’s not the bears fault at all, it’s the humans. The city of Snoqualmie should have forced garages to be built with all the homes on the ridge.