Brynn writes:
Thanks to Doug Miller and his quick shutter finger, we have proof that the elusive Port Orchard bear was trying to escape Port Orchard for better digs on Bainbridge Island.
Miller sent the email this afternoon and unless there’s another bear walking around out there with a dart in its hindquarters, I’m guessing this is the same bear that was hiding out in the greenbelt off Mile Hill Drive earlier this week. I have to say, it looks a lot bigger here than it did when it was running at me on Monday…what do they put in those darts, steroids?!
Miller spotted the bear this morning swimming across Rich Passage, headed for Bainbridge off Point Glover. Here’s what he said in an email:
We saw him swimming out in the middle of the channel. A boat stopped to check him out and he got spooked and decided to swim back to our side I guess.
Pretty cool.
Last I heard from wildlife Sgt. Ted Jackson was that the bear still hasn’t been captured, but that it is being spotted all over. The hype over the bear has hopefully gone down now that its not running across Mile Hill Drive and bounding over the fences of the nearby Orchard Heights Elementary and Discovery Alternative High School.
I’m guessing Jackson and the other wildlife officials are also hoping the bear quietly fades into the woods, so they don’t have to try and relocate it.
Without further ado, here’s the photos. (Look close in this first one, you can see the dart sticking out his right hind leg).
