ARLINGTON — State officials are encouraging residents to secure their garbage cans and bird feeders a bear was sighted twice this week in southern Arlington.
Residents of the Crown Ridge neighborhood near Arlington High School reported seeing a black bear Thursday, Oct. 8, at approximately 6:45 a.m.
Sgt. Randy Lambert of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended that home owners in the area take measure to secure possible food sources that might be attracting the bear.
Lambert told city officials that if the bear continues to come back after all possible food sources have disappeared, department agents could consider trapping the bear, said Kristin Banfield, city of Arlington spokeswoman.
Residents of the Crown Ridge and Gleneagle neighborhoods are encouraged to remove food sources in order to encourage the bear to return to its native habitat, Banfield said.
The bear sighting was the second in as many days in the area.
Parents were asked to pick up their children at Pioneer Elementary School on Wednesday, Oct. 7, after a bear was spotted after school let out.
Banfield said that area residents spotted the bear near SR 9 and Eaglefield Drive/Crown Ridge Boulevard in southern Arlington between 3:30-4 p.m.
Banfield said Pioneer was put on partial lockdown and parents of children who walk home from school were contacted to come and pick up their children.
The bear was also spotted meandering east toward the high school that afternoon, and it eventually made its way down to a ravine behind the school — most likely the bear’s native habitat, Banfield said.
Representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife were on hand but not needed during the sighting, she said.
