By GARLAND KENNEDY
Sentinel Staff Writer
The bears are back in town and interested in garbage, which so far this year is par for the course, wildlife officials say.
“Bear activity right now is right in line, average with what it’s been historically,” Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Steve Bethune told the Sentinel. “We get the police reports every morning from people who’ve called the police and the number of calls through July is right in line with the average number of calls we’ve had through July over the last five years.”
All told, he said, around 50 bear calls have come in since January.
Last Thursday, the police department received calls about a bear on Edgecumbe Drive, another near the Public Safety Academy, and a third on Tilson Street near Kimsham Field. A bear was also seen rummaging through garbage on Shelikof Way. The day before, a bear was reported on Tilson Street and Edgecumbe Drive as well. Bear sightings have been a common occurrence on Edgecumbe Drive in police reports this month.
On July 12, a caller reported being pursued by a bear on Baranof and Lincoln Streets.
There is a common thread in many of the bear incursions: garbage.
“They’re in town the same as they’re always in town this time of year... The majority of our calls are related to bears in trash,” Bethune said.
He urged everyone to keep garbage where bears can’t get at it.
“Trash needs to be stored in a secure location until the morning of pick-up,” he said.
He encouraged residents with excess trash to take it to the Jarvis Street transfer station.
“Every household is allowed 200 pounds of free garbage at the transfer station every month,” he said.
Salmon have not yet begun to run up Indian River, which flows through Sitka National Historical Park, but bear sightings in the park have led the National Park Service to close some park trails.
Bethune said more bear activity may be expected when the salmon run starts.
“Just be aware that that’s a food source that’s becoming available to bears,” he said, “and it’s likely that bears are going to be more active around rivers. So that’s a good place to be more bear aware as you’re going about your activities.”
Last year bear activity in town escalated through the late summer into the fall and continued even into the winter. A bear killed a dog in the Indian River subdivision, and law enforcement officers shot and killed a number of bears.
“All the stuff that happened last year was later in the fall... It comes back down to trash handling again. We’re attracting bears into the city with a food source via our trash,” he said.
Bethune said the practice in his own household is to freeze particularly smelly items.
“We separate out our food... stinky banana peels, egg shells, and we freeze them, keep them and store them in the freezer until the day before (trash pick-up day),” he said. “That keeps things from rotting for a long time and if they go into the trash can frozen or partly frozen that’s an odor reduction. And we have a pretty robust recycling program so a lot of your trash can be taken to recycle.”
Bethune said there are limits to a citizen’s right to kill a bear in self-defense.
“If you feel your life or your property is in danger, you can kill a bear,” he said, but added that this does not extend to protecting trash cans left unsecured on the curb.
“I have not heard any reports of bears acting aggressively, he said. “We monitor reports and we will take action when we believe a bear has become a public safety threat,” he said.
Residents should call the police department to report aggressive bears, he said.
Moving further through the summer and into the fall, Bethune said, he expects bear activity to increase.
“As we get more and more into the fall, the bears will get more food-motivated as they get into that hyperphagia,” he said, referring to a bear’s fattening period prior to hibernation.
