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  1. TopTop #1
    Scott McKeown's Avatar
    Scott McKeown
     

    A bear near Sebastopol


    Today (Sunday) just a little after 12 noon a fairly large bear walked through our neighborhood and my property. I live on Green Hill Road near Sturgeon Mill between Occidental Road and Graton Road. This picture is of the bear walking down my driveway taken today from the deck of my house -- and also a close-up of the same image.

    The bear walked up my driveway, then down, then back up again and into the woods on the south side of my property. It sat on a stump in the woods for quite a while before heading up the hill toward Occidental Road. The bear was seen by four people on my property and also others in the neighborhood.

    Fish and Game was called by one of my neighbors and they came out and apparently said that this area was rural enough for the bear to be okay, and for people to try not to give it food sources such as pet food or compost so it will wander away. They apparently said if it gets aggressive there would be no choice but to euthanize it, which would be a real shame.

    How wonderful that this magnificent wild creature is in our midst. I really hope it will be okay. We've had some wild boar come through our neighborhood, and I've heard of sightings of mountain lions in this area. But in my sixteen or so years in Sebastopol I have not heard much about bears being around here. However, there may have been other times, and perhaps others, particularly "old-timers", might be able to tell us.

    Scott



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    Last edited by Scott McKeown; 05-27-2013 at 08:53 AM.
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  2. TopTop #2
    Sylph's Avatar
    Sylph
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    In the last 6 months near Occidental, I have seen a mountain lion and a very strange gray bobcat. The bobcat does not look like anything on the net... it does not have spots, but is solid gray.
    I am excited that wild creatures are amongst us! I have only heard of a bear sighting one other time and that was up on Owl Road. I grew up in Occidental and never saw a bear.
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  4. TopTop #3
    Valley Oak's Avatar
    Valley Oak
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Wow! This is fascinating and exciting. It looks like all of our efforts in fighting for the environment are paying off.

    I'd like to know how this bear got here and from where. It looks like a brown bear, not a black bear. Black bears are smaller, generally, than brown bears. Grizzlies, if I'm not mistaken, are a subgroup of brown bears but this doesn't look like a grizzly to me. The last California grizzly was was shot and killed in the 1920s.

    Thanks for your post! Now I feel like I live in the wild somewhere.
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  6. TopTop #4
    photolite's Avatar
    photolite
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    This is a black bear, which can take on many different colors, from blue to cinnamon or even silver (I've seen them in all these colors over the years).

    This is likely the same bear sited on Willow Creek Rd. last week and on Harrison Grade Rd. a few days ago. Photos of those bears are the same color as this one. Apparently it is headed east, which is probably not a good thing for anybody, especially the bear.

    Game & Fish has recently stated that there is a growing population of black bears in the coastal hills east of Bodega Bay. Seems like they might know what they're talking about.
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  8. TopTop #5
    Scott McKeown's Avatar
    Scott McKeown
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    This bear has got to be a California Black Bear, which, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, "vary in color from tan or brown to black". From my quick research on Brown Bears they no longer exist in California. All bears in Yosemite, for instance, are Black Bears.

    This habitat range map of Black Bears from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife shows that we are well within the natural range of these bears. (The Department's name was thankfully changed last year from "Fish and Game" to "Fish and Wildlife") I'm not sure if bears showing up in more developed areas like ours is a good sign or not. Are they increasing in population? Or are they getting squeezed out of their normal habitats because of more human development?

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  10. TopTop #6
    gypsey's Avatar
    gypsey
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    I lived on Vancouver Island for 13 years so saw black bears often. When cubs are two years old, the mother kicks them out and they often wander toward civilization as they learn to live independently. They enjoy the abundant blackberries that grow everywhere here....BTW black bears not only can be brown, but can also have white patches on paws and chest. And in Prince Rupert live the amazing white or spirit bears.

    --I'm glad Scott posted the wildlife warden's directive not to feed these bears but to respect their wildness. We don't want them looking for food handouts from us or rooting in garbage. On Vancouver Island, the bears aren't euthanized if they hang around. Rather they are caught in a bear "mobile" which is a kind of Quonset hut on wheels. When the bear is trapped inside, it is hauled away back to the wild.

    As far as one reader's comment regarding seeing a mountain lion, in drought conditions mountain lions might come closer to civilization than is safe. They are loners and keep a low profile, but in one drought year a starving mountain lion was captured waiting by a schoolyard in British Columbia, and another attacked 2 people on horseback.. They are magnificent and to be respected---but dangerous.

    Thanks everyone for sharing your sightings and for the words of appreciation for our wild companions.


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  12. TopTop #7
    lindasw's Avatar
    lindasw
     

    Re: Leaving your pets outside with a bear exploring near Sebastopol

    ...just a friendly reminder to keep an eye on your housepets, especially at night if you have outdoor kitties that are allowed to roam...these are tasty little morsels for any wildlife that aren't normally wandering about. coyote have been known to use cats to "train" their young in the fine art of the kill....love your pets safely-- do not feed the bears!
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  14. TopTop #8

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Those photos are so great! Thanks for sharing. I was just looking at some pictures of elephants and cheetas a friend of mine sent me from Africa and then--a bear in our back yard.

    Lilith

    Last edited by Barry; 05-28-2013 at 01:28 PM.
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    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Hi Scott, I was so pleased to hear that there is a bear in your area, and also worried. I moved from Sebastopol to the foothills a few years ago, right into bear country, and have lived in close contact with bears for ten years. The major difficulty with bears is caused directly by our own behavior. Leaving trash cans or pet food out where bears leads to one end, dead bears. And it only takes a few encounters to bring that on. Education is the best hope for peaceful coexistence. Good luck !

    And by the way, bears don't eat cats and rarely bother pets in our area. They sometimes get a bad rap because they do follow Mountain lions and eat the leftovers.
    It ain't easy bein' a bear.

    Michelle Noe
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  18. TopTop #10
    podfish's Avatar
    podfish
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Edward Mendoza: View Post
    It looks like a brown bear, not a black bear. Black bears are smaller, generally, than brown bears. Grizzlies, if I'm not mistaken, are a subgroup of brown bears but this doesn't look like a grizzly to me
    I found this boy-scout advisory on the difference between bears:

    The National Park Rangers are advising hikers in Glacier National Park and other Rocky Mountain parks to be alert for bears and take extra precautions to avoid an encounter.
    They advise park visitors to wear little bells on their clothes so they make noise when hiking. Visitors should also carry a pepper spray can just in case a bear is encountered. Spraying the pepper into the air will irritate the bear's sensitive nose and it will run away.
    It is also a good idea to keep an eye out for fresh bear scat so you have an idea if bears are in the area. People should be able to recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear scat.
    Black bear droppings are smaller and often contain berries, leaves, and possibly bits of fur. Grizzly bear droppings tend to contain small bells and smell of pepper.
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  20. TopTop #11
    Scott McKeown's Avatar
    Scott McKeown
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol


    The bear came back through our property again yesterday. Apparently it has taken up at least temporary residence in our little valley here off Green Hill Road. I managed to take this short video of the bear in our woods, posted here. In my excitement, at one point I said "It's alright, buddy" as I approached, which, along with my encroaching presence, scared it off. As it runs off, if you listen closely, you can hear it snort an indignant huff as if to say, "give me some space, you jerk". And it's right. But in my defense I was just excited, as it's not often you find a fairly large wild bear roaming around in your back yard right near Sebastopol.

    Right after this video was shot my housemate and I approached it again but this time it stood it's ground and huffed and snorted and made a little head lunge at us. He let us know in no uncertain terms we were getting on its nerves and his or her patience and generosity to not chase us down and do us in right there, as it easily could have done, was wearing a bit thin. We got the message loud and clear and backed away quickly.

    From now on we're going to give the bear more space so it feels less threatened. At least for the moment we like the idea of having a wild bear sanctuary here on our property so close to town. And we're also committed to not provide food sources so it must exist under more wild conditions and not become dependent on living off the scraps of human households.

    Scott
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  22. TopTop #12
    innerdiscovery
    Guest

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Thanks so much for posting this video of what looks like a young cinnamon phase black bear. You made our family's day! We have been informally studying black bears daily, all through winter and spring, inspired by my 13 yr old son's interest and his extended school project.

    A great source for information about black bears is the NABC in Minnesota. Dr. Lynn Rogers is doing some very interesting research and sharing it in ways that are changing a lot of people's attitudes towards bears. ( https://www.bear.org/website/) Some of his practices are controversial, (for instance he feeds them nuts and berries in order to collar them for research instead of tranquilizing them in order to lessen trauma) but after reading tons of info on his methods, he seems very sound and to truly have the best interest of the bears in mind. His research organization, the WRI , has posted den cam videos of wild black bears all winter to understand more of what happens during hibernation. It's fascinating and I highly recommend watching them, even though the moms and cubs are now out for the spring, they do have archived footage you can watch.

    Also, check out the page at NABC on bear behaviors to learn more about the sounds and actions of the bear. Sounds like he was scared and letting you know about it. Talking to the bear is actually not such a bad idea! Dr. Rogers talks about announcing yourself as a courtesy and sometimes they can get used to your presence if you give them enough space to feel comfortable. From what I've learned, the bear can eventually learn to trust that you are not a competitor or mean them any harm and you could potentially hang out in the same space as them, while they ignore you and snack on berries and vegetation:) If they stamp and blow, that is called bluster and indicates their nervousness.

    I am no bear expert by a long shot, just a bear lover, but I did want to share a bit of what I've learned recently because a lot of the current research challenges long standing myths about bears that may interest you. We are jealous of your bear visitor, but very glad that he/she decided to wander through someone's yard who clearly has a respect and love for bears. Post more videos if you can and thanks again for sharing!

    Last edited by Barry; 07-12-2013 at 04:15 PM.
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  24. TopTop #13
    Vitality Glassware's Avatar
    Vitality Glassware
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    I lived on a remote ranch north of Geyserville, and after a large salmon barbeque/party once, several (3, mom and 2 half-grown cubs) were drawn down from Lake county (several miles away) to check it out- across 2 large canyons of rugged terrain and Geyser Peak. I imagine they're all through here in heavily wooded areas. They travel /wander many miles without a problem. In my experience, the sight or unexpected sounds of humans would spook them pretty well.

    Where I live near Bloomfield now, there a lion mom seen occasionally, and regular bobcat visitors. Just night critters mostly, so we don't notice. What a blessing here in "wilder" Sonoma County!
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  26. TopTop #14
    studioslips
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    The bear came through the property we live on this afternoon! We're on the Occidental Road end of Jonive Rd, on the east side. The bear came from the woods to the North/East of us and headed West into the woods going toward Freestone/Occidental. My son took a photo. It's the same bear. Just wanted everyone to know it's heading West - a good thing.

    Here it is. Bear Medicine!
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    Last edited by Barry; 05-29-2013 at 11:35 AM.
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  27. TopTop #15
    geomancer's Avatar
    geomancer
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Here is a photo my daughter Catia took of the bear on Saturday. It is chowing down on the contents of her compost bucket - it spent over an hour around our home (we live up the hill from Scott and from Sturgeon's Mill).

    Richard

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  28. TopTop #16
    bblags
    Guest

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Looks like the bear continued to head west. I spotted it running west across an open area at the CYO Camp in Occidental, where I work, at about 5:35pm Tuesday. Looks like it is covering some ground and would have had to cross Bohemian Hwy. This, I believe is the first time we have seen a bear at the camp in the 19 years I have worked there.
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  30. TopTop #17
    scamperwillow's Avatar
    scamperwillow
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Cool to see these bear pictures, but I really hope that people will keep any available food/compost/pet food/etc. away and also stay away from the bear. It would be a real shame if the guy had to be killed because of curious humans. And if you have chickens or pets, keep them really secured!
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  32. TopTop #18
    Scott McKeown's Avatar
    Scott McKeown
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol


    This is kind of weird, and I'm hearing this only second hand but...I just ran into a neighbor who told me she has a friend who lives near Furlong Road and Occidental Road who said she had a bear at her place this morning.

    Real? False sighting? If real, does that mean the bear wandered back eastward during the night? Or, is it possible there are two bears?

    I hope any more local bear sightings are reported here.

    Scott
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  34. TopTop #19
    bohomiller
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    I live off of Bittner Rd next to the CYO camp and saw the bear this morning 7:00. Same bear, looks to be young and about 100lbs. 2 cubs for a litter are common so there could be 2 that have recently left their mother It sniffed my compost pile and then moved on back into the camps property.
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  36. TopTop #20
    scamperwillow's Avatar
    scamperwillow
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    That's not very far for a bear to travel - at all.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by Scott McKeown: View Post

    This is kind of weird, and I'm hearing this only second hand but...I just ran into a neighbor who told me she has a friend who lives near Furlong Road and Occidental Road who said she had a bear at her place this morning.

    Real? False sighting? If real, does that mean the bear wandered back eastward during the night? Or, is it possible there are two bears?
    Last edited by Barry; 05-30-2013 at 01:53 PM.
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  38. TopTop #21
    innerdiscovery
    Guest

    Interactive Bear Tracker Map

    My husband found this interactive map which coud be a neat way for us to compile and track all of the bear sightings. Please feel free to add locations (and photos) of any further bear sightings in the map below or make corrections of info we added which might not be totally accurate. Also, hopefully someone could find out and add information about the sightings at Willow Creek, Harrison Grade Rd, possible Furlong Rd. and the OAEC I heard about today. Our best bet in the absence of telemetry. Happy tracking..

    Interactive map (not available on the digest):

    Last edited by Barry; 05-31-2013 at 12:40 PM.
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  39. TopTop #22
    gypsey's Avatar
    gypsey
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    It's my understanding that bears can roam in a range of 125 miles. Bears come out of the den hungry and needing to gain weight, and it's not blackberry season yet.
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  41. TopTop #23
    innerdiscovery
    Guest

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    My son was carefully studying all the photos of the bear posted here and pointed out that the muzzle on the Jonive/Occidental bear (posted by studioslips) was fairly light and that the body type matched the bear in Scott's photos even though the muzzle looks dark on his photo. The bear at the compost bucket (posted by Richard) clearly has a darker brown muzzle. It looks similar to the OAEC bear whose picture is on the map. However the OAEC bear has a whitish patch on its muzzle. Could be just differences in lighting and detail on the photos or as Scott and others have mentioned, there could be two bears or even three.

    As bohomiller noted, there could be two yearlings who have recently separated from their mother, like Gypsey talked about observing on Vancouver Island. This is called "family break up." When it happens the young bears have to find their own territories (females tend to pick areas closer to their mother's territories - males have a wider roaming radius).

    I don't know about the denning habits of black bear here along the coast where it doesn't freeze - does anybody know? Typically it takes them a while to work up an appetite after hibernation as their stomachs have shrunk in size. Newly separated yearlings, however, would be quite hungry and can be a bit skittish before they establish themselves.

    Photolite mentioned that Fish and Game says there is a growing population of black bear in the coastal hills east of Bodega. We could have more visits from these coastal bears if there are insufficient preferred foods out there. The good news is that there is increasing evidence that bears and people can coexist peacefully.
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  43. TopTop #24
    photolite's Avatar
    photolite
     

    Re: Interactive Bear Tracker Map

    First sightings I heard of were on Willow Creek Rd. about 3 weeks ago but it's not shown on the map. Same, small, brown bear in a compost heap.
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  45. TopTop #25
    bohomiller
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Here is another interesting tidbit. My neighbor originally called me to let me know that the bear was on its way to my house on Wednesday morning. When I got home from work that night she had left me a message that about 2 hour later there was a large Coyote following the same path as the bear. Someone in an earlier post made the comment that bears often follow mountain lions to cleanup after them. It makes since that the Coyotes may do the same things for the bear. Anyone else see the coyote?
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  47. TopTop #26

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    I've seen coyotes recently. Last week, there was one on Highway 12 in the Laguna at about 8:45 a.m. It was crossing from the north side to the south side.

    And I'm almost positive I just saw a coyote chasing two or three deer past the window of my study, where I'm working. It was the right size and color but zipped by so fast I can't be positive what, exactly, it was. The deer were clearly spooked and running for their lives. Have not heard any screaming so I think the deer got away.

    I'm just above Atascadero Creek, about a mile and a half from downtown Sebastopol.
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  49. TopTop #27
    Claire's Avatar
    Claire
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Speaking of critters....
    Years ago, when we moved into the country near Geyserville, we were taking a walk up the hill from our house when we came upon a late rain pool of standing water in the shade, under a cliff. As it was a sizable puddle in the summer there were many tracks in the surrounding hardened mud. There we saw our first mountain lion tracks (huge) and bear tracks, front and back paws (bigger yet). As we moseyed on we inadvertently disturbed a rattlesnake who slithered off into the tall grass and who in turn, set off a series of unmistakably porcine grunts from the large troupe of wild boars who had been lounging there.
    It was a pretty cool, if somewhat dicey, welcome to California!
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  51. TopTop #28
    Barry's Avatar
    Barry
    Founder & Moderator

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    Here's a static copy of the updated bear tracking map as of May 31 at noon.



    To see the live interactive map, see this post.
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  53. TopTop #29
    bodegahead's Avatar
    bodegahead
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    I think it`s heading to the Bohemian Grove Spring Jinx in Monte Rio, starts next thursday...
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  55. TopTop #30
    gypsey's Avatar
    gypsey
     

    Re: A bear near Sebastopol

    As far as I know, while black bears are somewhat carnivorous in that they will occasionally feast on a leftover carcass (they are opportunistic) coyotes are straight carnivores looking for (mostly small) fresh prey.

    Quote Posted in reply to the post by bohomiller: View Post
    Here is another interesting tidbit. My neighbor originally called me to let me know that the bear was on its way to my house on Wednesday morning. When I got home from work that night she had left me a message that about 2 hour later there was a large Coyote following the same path as the bear. Someone in an earlier post made the comment that bears often follow mountain lions to cleanup after them. It makes since that the Coyotes may do the same things for the bear. Anyone else see the coyote?
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