West Davis Bear Sighting Unusual Even As Some Wildlife More Active During California Stay-At-Home Order

A small brown bear was reportedly roaming around a neighborhood pond in West Davis as of 7 a.m., reports the Davis Police Department on Twitter. 

Video from a home security system shows the bear walking near cars by a home. 

The Davis Police Department has received reports of a small brown bear last seen at about 7 AM near the West Davis pond (Near Arlington Blvd/Shasta Dr - west of SR 113). If seen please use caution, do not approach, and call 911 immediately. Animal Control Officers are in the area pic.twitter.com/nIlCBj6PEP

— Davis Police (@cityofdavispd) April 29, 2020

Animal control officers are in the area looking for the bear, officials report, in the area near the West Davis pond by Arlington Boulevard and Shasta Drive. 

If seen people are asked to use caution, to not approach it, and to call 911. 

With fewer people out and about, the pandemic has caused wildlife to come out in places like Yosemite National Park.

But in places like Tahoe —  where nearly two dozen bears live under homes as explained in CapRadio’s TahoeLand podcast — bears aren’t acting unusual, says Toogee Sielsch with the Sierra Wildlife Coalition.

“Much of our wildlife around the urban areas of Tahoe have become fairly urbanized, black bears and coyotes specifically, and already move about our small urban environments fairly freely,” said Sieslch in an email.

Even with tourism down because of the pandemic, Sielsch says he hasn’t got many reports of new bears under homes. He says it’s because a lot of homeowners who rent their places out as short-term rentals are staking out in Tahoe until the pandemic ends.

“We've actually seen our longer-term population swell a bit due to the second homeowners that decided to ride this mess out in Tahoe in their usually unoccupied or vacation rental properties,” said Sielsch.

But spring is here and summer is around the corner and that’s when bears begin to emerge more regularly. 

“This is generally the time of year we see black bears becoming active again, and with this mild winter that behavior happened a little earlier this year,” Sielsch said. “Spring grasses are just starting to turn green again and over the next two months will make up over 75% of most black bears diet.”