State traps 200 lb. bear in Columbia
A 200-pound black bear believed to be the same one that broke into a Columbia couple’s home late Sunday or early Monday was captured and released Wednesday into the Stanislaus National Forest 40 to 50 miles east by California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel.
Nathan Graveline, a state Fish and Wildlife supervisor based in Fresno, confirmed that he believes the bear caught by a trap they set Monday afternoon was the one that gave Marsha and Jim Beaty the scare of a lifetime two nights earlier based on cuts found on the animal’s paw.
“It’s not a small bear,” Nathan Graveline, a Fish and Wildlife supervisor based in Fresno, said before 9 a.m. Wednesday at the couple’s home in the Gold Springs Ranch subdivision off Parrotts Ferry Road. “We’ll take him up to the national forest, near the snow line, and with the storm coming tonight hopefully it will stay up in the mountains.”
The Beatys were in their bedroom when the bear smashed through a window on their home and got inside, leaving behind a trail of muddy, bloody paw prints throughout the house before it left.
Marsha Beaty was sleeping when Jim Beaty said he came out of the bathroom and saw a silhouette of a bear at the foot of their bed by her feet. He made himself as tall as he could and called out to his wife, before the two ran to another area of the house for safety and called 911.
The Beatys said the bear that broke into their place had clearly become a dangerous nuisance in their neighborhood. At the same time, they said they felt they were being watched over during their encounter with the bear that broke into their home.
“We felt divinely protected throughout this strange event,” Marsha Beaty said Wednesday afternoon. “We’re Christians, and God is in control always.”
Graveline told the Beatys he intended to drug the bear briefly, put tags on the bear, including a tag warning hunters “Do Not Eat” because of the drugs in the bear’s system, as well as a GPS collar so authorities can keep track of the bear’s whereabouts in future.
General bear hunting season began in October and ends Dec. 25.
Later Wednesday, Graveline said he had taken the bear 40 to 50 miles east of Columbia into the Stanislaus National Forest, and there was snow on the ground close to where he released the bear.
The Beatys asked Graveline to come back after the approaching winter storm because they and several neighbors believe there has been more than one nuisance bear raiding trash cans in the area.
“Let’s see what happens next week,” Graveline said, and asked about scheduled trash days in the neighborhood. “We’ll see if we still have bear movement.”
Black bears come in colors from tan to brown to solid black, and they are the only wild bears in California. Homeowners, property owners, and renters can help keep bears wild by using bearproof trash, recycling, and compost containers, and by waiting to put trash out until the morning of collection, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Other tips include: cleaning garbage and recycling bins routinely with bleach or ammonia; removing unsecured trash, food, and strongly scented items from vehicles and yards; keeping doors and windows closed and locked when unoccupied; bringing pets inside at night; keeping livestock in secure pens at night; eliminating access to potential den sites, like crawl spaces under decks; cleaning and storing barbecue grills in secure sheds or garages when not in use; removing bird feeders from yards and plant native flowers to attract birds instead; and refraining from feeding other wildlife, which will attract bears.