Video shows black bear clambering through brush near Pierce County church
Looks like one bear is out of hibernation this spring.
A black bear was spotted lumbering through the ferns Monday afternoon near Lakebay Community Church, which is on Cornwall Road Southwest. A resident posted videos of the creature on a Key Peninsula Facebook page at 2:20 p.m. and shortly after 3 p.m.
The Key Peninsula Fire Department hadn’t received any reports of a bear, spokesperson Anne Nesbit wrote in a text message Monday afternoon. “But they are out,” she wrote. “Sightings all over Facebook.”
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife incident map didn’t show any reported black bear sightings Monday. The most recent reported sighting on the Key Peninsula was April 26 in the Longbranch area.
“While WDFW has not received reports of a bear near the church today, we have received multiple reports of black bear sightings in Key Peninsula this spring and last fall,” Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Bridget Mire wrote in an email.
Black bears are common throughout most of the state, she continued, and people are more likely to encounter them as the state’s population grows.
“When preparing for hibernation in the fall and after waking in the spring, bears look for high-calorie, easy-to-find food sources,” she wrote. “If bears get used to finding high-calorie food in an area, they will keep coming back. The best way to encourage them to move along and focus on natural food sources is by removing potential attractants.”
Tips for keeping bears at a safe distance include locking up your garbage and recycling until pick-up day, removing bird feeders, cleaning barbecue grills after use, feeding pets indoors or only for a brief period outdoors and storing all food in places where bears can’t smell or see it, she wrote.
Black bears aren’t typically aggressive or confrontational, but it’s a good idea to keep your distance, according to Mire. More information, including what to do if you encounter a black bear, is available at wdfw.wa.gov/blackbears.
