Happy birthday to the USA

Vol. 21  Edition 26            Serving Prince William Sound and the Copper River Basin            July 1, 2009

Bear Bait
Photo courtesy of Steve Newcomer This brown bear scavenged an easy meal from a dumpster at Bear Creek RV Park and Cabins on the Richardson Highway. Bears have prompted a number of complaints in the area recently.

“This is a younger bear, he hasn’t experienced a lot, that’s why he’s getting into trouble,” said Shana Anderson of animal control, adding that the bear is most likely extremely hungry and looking for food. “I’m thinking he’s probably waiting for salmon which haven’t come in because they’re slow.”

Anderson said the 400 pound, 3 to 4-year-old bear went dumpster diving in Robe River and Corbin Creek before heading into town on Friday. He ended up at Dock Point, causing the trail to be closed over the weekend.

“He literally walked down the bike path into town,” said Anderson.

He’s not a town bear, she said, and so on Sunday morning he returned to his territory by way of Aleutian Trailer Court. She said there have been no complaints or sightings of the bear since early Sunday morning.

“We were going to try and trap him but we we’re unable to do so,” she said.

Anderson said that this brown bear incident has been the first big bear scare of the season.

“I think that this is just the beginning,” she said, adding that this season might be shaping up to be like last year’s bear year. “It’s the same problem as last year—high population of bears in the area and no food.”

The brown bear got into several garbage cans and dumpsters while traipsing into town but Anderson did not write any citations during the bear’s spree.

“We aren’t going to write citations without warning people,” she said. “Citations probably will come.”

“People need to do their part,” she said, encouraging people to keep yards clean and dog food put away. “I think they’d rather eat dog food than salmon.”

Amy Hodgkins, a resident of Robe River, said that while she was gone over the weekend the bear got into her garbage cans.

“We came home to garbage all over the place,” she said, adding that it didn’t look like he ate anything. “Unfortunately we didn’t get to see it.”

Hodgkins said that in order to keep the bears away the rest of the summer she’s going to take trash directly to the dumpster.

However, now that the bear got into garbage cans and dumpsters he will associate every receptacle with food, Anderson said. 

“Every garbage can from thereon is a food source … that’s the problem,” Anderson said, explaining that’s how bears think.

Rebecca Roller, another resident of Robe River, said that she and her lab/husky mix had a few encounters with the bear last week.

The bear came into her yard and her dog nipped him until he left the area.

“It caught me off guard,” she said, but was against having the bear shot. She said that enjoying more wildlife is a perk of living outside town.

“If I didn’t want any bears in my yard I’d move to New York City and have no yard,” she said. Roller says that now she’s going to take her trash to the dump to avoid more bear and dog encounters.

“He’s not going to keep coming around if there’s no food out here,” she said. “Bears were here before we were. As long as we’re more cautious we can all get along.”

Bill Comer, Valdez police chief, said if the bear doesn’t stay out of the subdivision it will be trapped and shot.

The Valdez Star P.O. Box 2949 Valdez, Alaska 99686 Phone (907) 835-2405 Email: editor@valdezstar.net