Do bears get bored in the woods? Quite possibly, which would explain why every once in a while one pops out into civilization and takes a peep around.
That’s exactly what happened Wednesday afternoon in Poulsbo. At about 2:42 p.m, a Poulsbo man called the Poulsbo Police Department to report seeing a bear in his front yard. What was the bear doing in his front yard? Whatever it wanted.
Because the bear surfaced in an area close to Poulsbo Elementary, North Kitsap School District officials thought it best that the school’s pedestrian population not be allowed to walk home. District spokesperson Chris Case sent out an e-mail that afternoon explaining the situation and asking parents to pick their children up from school. Totally understandable.
In the meantime, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife was called out to find the bear. As of press time, the ursus Americanus’ whereabouts are unknown. OK, that’s a guess, but the mostly vegetarian black bear is pretty common here in the Pacific Northwest.
The “National Audobon Society Field Guide to the Pacific Northwest” offers some pretty solid advice/information about Poulsbo’s quadruped visitor, paraphrased here for space constraints:
They eat berries, insects and tree bark, not people.
Don’t feed them.
If you see a bear, your first inclination may be to screech like a 3-year-old girl and run away. Don’t do that. The bear might feel threatened and will respond in kind, which will likely end badly for you.
Don’t put yourself between the bear and its food or cubs, for the same reason you shouldn’t screech and run. Bears can be persnickety when they feel threatened.
No matter how good a swimmer or runner you are, don’t try to swim or run away from a bear. They rival Michael Phelps in the water and Ryan Hall on land. And, again, remember the word persnickety.
Overall, bears are best left alone. If they want to soak up the sun and lounge in your lawn chair while eating blackberries off your bushes, let them. Stay calm, stay quiet and call the Fish and Wildlife Department.
