Mike Salsbury/The Olympian
Captured in Tumwater on Thursday, a black bear sits inside a live animal trap before it was transported to Mason County. The bear was captured at Bush Mountain by state Fish and Wildlife officer Greg Haw, who used a mixture of fruits to lure the bear into the trap. It was the second bear captured in Tumwater since June, said Haw.

Police nab black bear

Species unlikely to attack humans

JOHN DODGE, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published October 19, 2001

TUMWATER -- State Department of Fish and Wildlife agents captured live an adult black bear on Bush Mountain on Thursday morning.

The bear has probably roamed the Tumwater area all summer and fall.

It could even be the same bear that caused a stir among Interstate 5 motorists who spotted a bear repeatedly in late July and early August along the freeway south of Tumwater, wildlife officer Greg Haw said.

Haw lured the bear, pegged at more than 200 pounds, into a trap made of road culvert pipe and filled with a tasty fruit cocktail.

The trap was set on undeveloped private property near the top of Bush Mountain on Oct. 14 after a nearby resident reported a bear stripping branches and apples from a backyard apple tree.

"This bear has been eating fruit," Haw said. "We have not so much as one report of a knocked-over garbage can."

The bear crouched quietly in the back of the trap around noon, awaiting transport and release to an undisclosed, remote rural area in Mason County.

"They can be volatile or docile," Haw said of captured bears. "This one's been very, very docile. This is a fat, healthy bear."

Haw said he has received numerous reports of bear sightings in the Tumwater area this summer and fall. Wildlife agents captured a young black bear in the area in June, he said.

It's rare for a black bear to threaten or attack humans, Haw said.

"You probably face a greater public safety threat crossing the street to go to your mailbox," he said.

Statewide, there were 522 bear sightings reported to state Fish and Wildlife in 2000, including 15 in Thurston County, agency spokesman Craig Bartlett said.

As for threats, the bear faces one for at least the next three weeks.

That's how long before bear hunting season ends in Western Washington.

John Dodge covers the environment and energy for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5444.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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