Black bear seen near Ranch

It's been a couple of years since a bear was caught marauding around Black Butte Ranch, but last Thursday, June 5, one was spotted running across the highway just outside the Ranch gate.

Jean Miller, wife of the late Ralph Miller, 1980s-90s basketball coach at Oregon State University, had just turned onto Highway 20 toward Sisters from the Black Butte Ranch entrance when a "medium-sized black bear ran right out in front of my car," she said.

"I had to jam on the brakes to keep from hitting it. I was so shook up that I pulled off onto the side of the road to calm down," Miller said.

The bear "kind of ambled across the highway and headed up toward Black Butte," she said.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, there are about 25,000 bears in our state, mostly on the western slope of the Cascades or in the coastal mountains.

Between 1996 and 2001, 1,031 bears were destroyed officially, mostly for foraging on private land or eating the bark and killing commercial trees.

"We do not try to relocate them if they become a habitual neighborhood nuisance as they will simply find another residential area in which to forage for food," a department report said.

Females will generally weigh 175 pounds with males going 275 pounds. They will live about 20 years and roam in an area of 10 to 100 square miles.

This relatively small area means that the bear Jean Miller saw is probably still nearby.

According to the ODFW report, "The black bear has been know to run 35 miles per hour and is generally dangerous to humans only if trapped."

Black bears in Oregon are usually black in color, while in other areas some have a honey color tending to brown.

They have very sharp, curved claws which help them climb trees and, in general, they are good swimmers.

This means, despite the cartoons, people should not climb a tree to try to escape a bear, nor jump in a lake.

Bears have good eyesight and an acute nose.

ODFW suggest that if confronted by a bear, one should speak softly to it so it knows you are not a foe and leave the area by backing away slowly.

"Do not make any sudden movements and do not make eye contact, as this is threatening," the report says.

If the bear has cubs, try to keep from getting between mother and babies.

In the rare event of an attack, fight back.

"Bears have been known to run when hit with rocks or fists or binoculars," according to the report.

Miller said that, "my bear came within 20 feet of my car and seemed to pay no attention to me whatsoever as it crossed the highway.

"It appeared to have come from the meadow with the aspen trees just east of Black Butte Ranch," she said.

More information on "Living with Wildlife in Bear Country" may be found at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/springfield/Bear.htm.