A bear caught trying to climb onto the grounds of the Washington State Fair on Wednesday is believed to be the same one spotted wandering a hospital campus in Puyallup on Tuesday, police said.
Puyallup police Capt. Ryan Portmann said he was "pretty confident" it was the same bear since both were tagged. The Good Samaritan Hospital campus in Puyallup is also just blocks from the fairgrounds.
The bear was captured by state officials after it tried to get over an iron fence to the fairgrounds at the on-ramp to Westbound Highway 512, Puyallup police said on Twitter. After the bear ran up a nearby tree, police "were able to give him something to help him take a nap," the department said.
Once knocked out, the bear fell from the tree onto a tarp set up below by state authorities. Police said he will "be taken back again to his home."
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On Tuesday, Portmann had said there were a half-dozen reports of bear sightings in southeastern Puyallup since Sunday.
"We let Smokey know that he was 2 months early" for the fair, Puyallup police said on Twitter. "We told him we would save him some scones, hamburgers, french fries, onion rings, and anything else he would like as long as he had a ticket. We are very certain we will see him again."
Walker Orenstein: 360-786-1826, @walkerorenstein
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