Bears in the Burg

WAITSBURG-Facebook was filled with posts of multiple sightings of a mama bear and cub on the southeast end of Waitsburg on the evening of June 13.

Residents lined the streets to get a look at the pair. Facebook posts, several with photos, caught the duo between Seventh and Ninth streets. At one point, the cub reclined near the porch inside a fenced yard on Seventh Street. Mama bear was also seen standing watch near the field house at the football field.

Multiple residents reported the sightings to Walla Walla Dispatch, including Columbia County Dispatcher Tiffany Baxter, who lives in the area.

"At about 8:30 p.m. my nephew said 'There's a bear out here!' The bear was across street in neighbor's yard, inside the fence. It jumped the wooden fence and headed down East Seventh, then it saw its mom at new field house. Ladies who live down there said it went behind the storage units. People were coming out of the woodwork," Baxter told The Times.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Sergeant Brian Fulton told The Times that it isn't unusual for bears to wander into town and this was likely a case of bears taking a wrong turn or looking for food such as garbage, barbeques or bird feeders. Fulton cautioned that people should keep their distance, especially from a mama bear that will be protective of its cub.

"If they haven't been back, that's a good sign that it's probably an isolated incident," Fulton said.