Bears spotted in 2 SLO County areas — chasing chickens, getting stuck and climbing a fence

Cambria residents are keeping their pets inside, garbage cans secured and chicken coops protected after a bear was spotted several times in residential areas of the small San Luis Obispo County town.

Word began spreading June 4 that a black bear had been observed in the northeastern section of Cambria. A bear was also “spotted just below Hearst Castle” in San Simeon, Randy Davis wrote on social media site Nextdoor.

Several observers shared photos and video of the bear seen in Cambria on social media — showing the large carnivore standing on the trunk of a dead tree, strolling across a street and perusing a patio.

Meanwhile, in northern Morro Bay, rescuers extracted a “wayward bear from a city storm drain” alongside Highway 1 on Thursday, the city of Morro Bay said in a Facebook post.

“The juvenile bear was lost and roaming around Morro Bay,” the city explained, crediting the California Fish & Wildlife Department, Morro Bay Police Department and Morro Bay Public Works & Community Development for their “great team work” in rescuing the wild animal.

After being safety tranquilized, the black bear was “transported to a safe place in the wild,” the city said.

According to historian Melody Coe, bears have been sighted in the area as early as the Portola expedition of California in the 18th century.

“The native people gave a baby bear to the soldiers as a gift on the property now known as Coast Union High School,” she said.

Bears have been spotted occasionally in Cambria, San Simeon and other parts of the North Coast over the decades, usually in outlying rural areas.

“Back in the ‘60s, us kids encountered a bear down by Randall and Ogden drives, eating blackberries,” Jane Beckman recalled in a Nextdoor post. “No one believed us! And Cambria was more wild then. Just goes to show bears do occasionally show up.”

In recent years, bears have also been seen taking a nap in a tree in Los Osos, swimming across the estuary in Morro Bay and raiding campsites at Lopez Lake near Arroyo Grande.

“We humans always sound so amazed” when bears are spotted on the Central Coast, Elizabeth Bettenhausen wrote on Nextdoor, “forgetting that we are the uninvited guests in bears’ home territory.”

Writing on Nextdoor, David Lopez advised that Cambrians should “get accustomed” to seeing bears.

“As drought conditions increase and their natural food supply dwindles, we’ll see more wildlife in our neighborhoods looking for food,” he wrote.

Bear spotted in Cambria

At about 9 p.m. June 6, Fog’s End Bed and Breakfast owner Jim Bahringer said he saw a bear trying to get to three chickens wandering around their enclosure on the property near the intersection of Main Street and Santa Rosa Creek Road.

“They were able to run around and get away from the bear,” Bahringer said. “(Later), there were a lot of feathers around, so the bear either scared the feathers off the chickens or got a swipe at one of them.”

Surveillance cameras at Cornel Catua’s Cambria home captured a short video at 5:45 a.m. on June 5 showing a bear peering over a tall fence.

The big bear is seen clambering up on top of the fence and then doing a brief walkabout while checking out two large water tanks and noises from a running pump.

The bear then jumps back down to the ground and strolls slowly off across the patio, the video shows.

Later, Catua said he “found the trash had been flipped. At first, I thought raccoons had done it. Then, when I looked at the cameras, I was shocked. I didn’t expect a bear.”

“It seemed to be quite a curious creature,” he said. “It likes this neighborhood, I think, (because it’s) close to the wild area of the ranch, the cemetery and the open wilderness beyond.”

Some other people in the areas where the bear was seen reportedly Catua that their garbage receptacles had been flipped, too, as the bear was likely hunting for food.

Catua guessed the bear could have been 400 to 500 pounds and 6 feet long.

Based on a picture of the bear, Dave Hacker, supervising environmental scientist for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife office in San Luis Obispo, estimated that it’s a “mature bear, maybe around 5 feet long and 3 to 4 feet at the shoulder, although the size is hard to estimate from photos.”

On June 8, Hacker said that his department already had received two calls that week about a bear raiding or damaging chicken coops in Cambria neighborhoods.

He said people who live in the interface between the town and open or forested lands “are more likely to experience bear sightings. It’s pretty common in different parts of the county.”

Hacker confirmed that bears usually venture into areas inhabited by humans while hunting for food.

“Chickens seem to attract bears,” he said, as do fruit trees, garbage cans, pet food and compost piles.

The bear likely aren’t searching for water, he said. “There are plenty of coastal streams and ponds in that area, so that’s probably not what’s driving that particular bear.”

“We don’t know if this is a young bear trying to establish a new territory, or what is motivating this bear,” he said, noting that bears will stick around if their home range has a lot of resources.

According to Hacker, wildlife officials don’t like to relocate the animals. “That just moves the problem to someplace else, and it usually will return anyway,” he said.

Catua said he’s not worried.

“I enjoy the wildlife here, the deer, the foxes. A bear is kind of rare,” he said. “But I’m not scared. I’m more concerned about dogs who aren’t on leash, chickens, small animals. People better watch their pets. Keep the dogs on leash and just be aware,” especially at dawn, dusk and at night.

However, Catua is taking one precaution: “I think I’ll put my trash cans in the garage now.”

What to do if you see a bear

So what should you do if you spot a bear?

If you see a bear, be aware that “it can detect you, by scent or sound,” Hacker said. “Keep your eyes on it … make yourself appear as large as you can, make a lot of noise and slowly back away to a safe place. Do not run!”

“Generally, bears are interested in the things that area attracting them … they’re not very interested in us,” Hacker said. There’s never been a black bear fatality on a human in California.”

Hacker advises securing your garbage cans just in case. “Put them away, put them in a locked enclosure, something that can withstand a bear,” he said.

There also are “some pretty good bear-resistant” trash containers on the market now, he said.

For information about living with bears, go to wildlife.ca.gov/Keep-Me-Wild/Bear#581101158-living-with-bears.

To report property damage caused by bears, go to the Wildlife Incident Reporting System at wildlife.ca.gov/Living-with-Wildlife.