Full Notification

By now most of you know that we had an incident last week with a black bear in a tree in the backyard of a home near downtown San Anselmo. With the assistance of our partner agencies – Ross Valley Fire, Fairfax and Ross Police, Marin Humane, and Marin Water District rangers – and on the advice of wildlife experts, we monitored the bear and kept him contained in the tree until CA Department of Fish and Wildlife officers arrived. They recommended that we clear the street of onlookers and move all officers out of the back yard so that the bear would feel safe enough to come down to ground on his own. After a period of time he did exactly that, and with the encouragement of first responders, he ran to the open space areas near Mount Tam, where he will hopefully remain.

The Fish and Wildlife officers have told us that bear sightings are very unusual in Marin and there have only been two or three bear sightings in Marin since 2003. While we don’t expect the bear to return, we want to offer these suggestions about “bear-proofing” your home:
• Do not toss food scraps out into the yard
• Purchase and properly use a bear-proof garbage container
• Wait to put trash out until the morning of collection day
• Do not leave trash, groceries or pet food in your car
• Keep garbage cans clean and deodorize them with bleach or ammonia
• Keep barbecue grills clean and stored in a garage or shed when not in use
• Do not leave any scented products outside, even non-food items such as suntan lotion, insect repellent, soap or candles
• Keep doors and windows closed and locked when unoccupied
• Bring pets in at night
- Consider composting bins as opposed to open composting.
• Do not feed deer or other wildlife – this will attract bears to your home.
• Harvest fruit off trees as soon as it is ripe, and promptly collect fruit that falls.
• If a bear breaks into your home, do not attempt to confront the bear. Give the bear an escape route. If the bear cannot make its way out, go to a safe place and call 911.

For more information including the full list of tips, please visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Bear?fbclid=IwAR1UDPEvfj9SHzyNjVshcs5MvCZ1Ds5GUt79DX33D-HjpdSBwkRmG4-pUfU

Special thanks to California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist and San Anselmo resident John Krause for his assistance, including guiding us to the above information.

Bear photo credit to Alan Dep, Chief Photographer/Photo Editor, Marin Independent Journal