A mama bear in Issaquah made a getaway on just two legs after digging through the trash.
"When she got up on two legs and carried the garbage bag, I would have sworn it was a person in a bear suit," a resident posted on Bear Smart, a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BearSmartWA/?fref=ts">Facebook page</a> dedicated to education on preventing bear deaths.
A video, provided to KIRO 7 News by the owner, shows a bear digging through trash in the driveway of an Issaquah home and walking away on two legs.
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Bear sightings in Issaquah – considered bear country – aren’t all that abnormal.
But users on social media are commenting about the rarity of catching a bear on camera walking on its hind legs.
KIRO-7 showed the video to Sgt. Kim Chandler with the WA Department of Fish and Wildlife. He said he's seen a bear walk on hind legs like that twice before, in videos sent to his office.
"It makes for cool video. Is that a cool thing? No, it's not," Chandler said. "Immediately when I saw that video I see a closed garage door and the garbage can outside that closed garage door."
Robbie Shineman lives in the neighborhood in Issaquah Highlands where the bear was spotted. "It looks like a person in a bear suit until it gets down on two legs. That's crazy," said Shineman after seeing the video.
Fish and Wildlife says bear reports in King County are way down this year. Last year there were 900 bear reports, so far this year there have only been 155. Sgt. Chandler says many residents are getting the message and putting away their garbage. He commented that bear-resistent cans are now required in Snoqualmie.
Chandler also says the weather this spring has made it easy for bears to find food in the woods, there are plenty of salmon berries and grass.
Last year WDFW says it had to kill 5 nuisance bears, three of those bears were in the Sammamish- Issaquah area. Those bears were reponsible for many of the bear reports in 2015. Chandler hopes residents will put away their garbage to give bears a better chance of staying in the woods.
"If the food source is gone, the bears are gone." said Chandler.
Cox Media Group
