Bear Sightings in Montecito
This story was originally published by the and is reproduced here in partnership with Edhat.
By Nick Masuda of the Montecito Journal
Carlos, is that you?!
What appears to be a black bear was on search for some honey early Thursday morning, caught on camera by a Montecitan in their backyard.
Check out the video:
Check out the bear caught on camera in Montecito on Thursday
The appearance created quite the stir at both Montecito Union School, as well as Laguna Blanca’s Lower School, where a fence appears to have been simply in the bear’s way.
According to the Santa Barbara County’s Sheriff’s Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife is conducting a search, which has seemingly not turned up our beloved Carlos The Bear.
“We just spoke to Fish and Wildlife and have returned to normal operating procedures as we have been advised that there is every indication the bear is now far from our campus,” said Anthony Ranii, the MUS superintendent. “We moved students inside in a modified lockdown as a precaution when we learned about the bear siting earlier today. The bear wasn’t on our campus or seen from our campus, but in an abundance of caution we moved forward with added precautions.
“Students and staff members performed admirable and we are back to business as usual. I would like to thank the Sheriff’s Office for responding and sending a team to investigate just to make sure we were safe.”
A fence in front of Laguna Blanca’s Lower School was partially destroyed, although it is not clear if Carlos the Bear was the culprit. (Photo by Nick Masuda)
While the bear might be finding some honey elsewhere, we are going to stick to our search, as messages into both USFW and Laguna Blanca hadn’t been returned by the publishing of this story.
Stay tuned for updates!
14 Comments
-
2
-
-
Sep 30, 2021 02:45 PMPoor thing. This is pretty far from the mountains. Laguna is really close to the freeway. This story actually makes me sad.
-
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 11:38 AMFret not, a black bear's natural habitat is many dozens of square miles. It is inevitable they will explore some human territory eventually in California.
-
-
-
Sep 30, 2021 04:26 PMNever knew there was a "Laguna Blanca Lower School" located in Montecito. Dear Black Bear: Please stay away from human habitation. Go well; be safe.
-
3
-
-
Sep 30, 2021 04:27 PMAddendum: I love how the Crow is giving the alert. You hear that call in your yard, you know there's an intruder.
-
2
-
-
Sep 30, 2021 06:36 PMThe crows always know. They have an alert system that reaches far & wide.
-
4
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 06:38 AMCorvids are very smart, especially crows; they remember people and how they were treated by them. In a University crow banding process, the banded crows remembered who banded them and would swoop down to attack them. They also tell their buddies who the bad apples are, for back-up. To see if it was facial recognition, they wore a mask when banding the baby crows. Later, when students, male, female, tall or squat, wore the mask across campus, they were attacked. One student wore the mask upside down and a crow flew upside down to look before coming in cawing. I love that they used a Dick Cheney mask and kind of hoped that he would give an outdoor address on the campus.
-
1
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 08:43 AMCrows are also very sociable. They organize themselves when picking up food , take turns in line and don't fight with each other.
-
1
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 09:54 AMFONDOFSB: Hahaha. Crows taking turn in line? Thanks for my morning laugh. In my yard if you're not "of the family" and particularly if you're younger and new to the rules of conduct and hierarchy, you will be chased about, "elbowed" out of the way, and sometimes even chased off in a lengthy sky attack Top Gun type fighter pilot display of dominance.
-
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 02:11 PMMinibeast : They organize a pecking order and then they RESPECT it.
That is the way civilized humans also behave ...
Looks like you're unaware of that !
-
2
-
-
Sep 30, 2021 04:33 PMI agree with the above statement. Water & food must be the reason for this bear to be so far from its comfort zone. I hope people leave a source for water far enough away from homes. Encroaching on their land has forced them to take risks. Don't bscare the children, teach them about bears & why they search near humans. They don't go into over the top panic mode in Canada when bear, or moose are in the area.
-
1
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 07:36 AMThere’s been a bear seen all the way from Romero Canyon to Mission Canyon, raiding chicken coops, the past couple of months.
-
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 09:29 AMPlease, people, don't panic! Yes, we live amongst wildlife. They were here before we were. It's EASY to coexist! Please don't feed wild animals, it only makes them unafraid of humans and puts them in danger. This bear will move along and be on his or her merry way if you just leave him or her alone. Thank you.
-
1
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 09:45 AMThank goodness the people I know have stopped putting food out so they could get a photo. I did not see this myself, but they said they tried donuts, chips (Doritos), leftover burgers, and even Kandy Korn. They never got their photo. Maybe they should have put out live chickens.
-
1
-
-
Oct 01, 2021 11:22 AMMy in-laws were camp hosts at Sequoia Nat'l park for years.
The bears would enjoy the weirdest things-One being dish washing soap.
They would lean back and drink it like a"bear sippin' sarsaparilla in the moonlight'.