Ojai : Bear Sightings May Be Mother, Cub

Three bear sightings reported in residential areas of the Ojai Valley since Friday may be of the same bear, or a mother and cub, officials said.

Residents are cautioned to leave the animals alone.

Two 9-year-old boys playing in a field at 750 Highland Drive in Mira Monte reported seeing a bear cub on a trail Monday afternoon. Animal control officers responded but did not spot the animal.

“Bears are basically shy creatures,” Officer Jean Miller said. “The best policy with any wildlife is to let them go their way unless they’re harming someone.”

On Friday, a large bear was treed in a tall pine about a mile away at 237 E. Villanova Road. Animal control officers, who estimated that the bear weighed 350 pounds, decided not to tranquilize it for fear that it would be injured if it fell, Miller said. They warned residents to keep their dogs in for the night. The bear was gone in the morning.

A second sighting occurred Saturday several miles east near the Ojai Lumberyard, where a bear was seen along San Antonio Creek, Miller said.

Bear sightings increased around Ojai after the 1985 Wheeler forest fire, but the drought has also caused the animals to move into populated areas seeking food and water, said John Boggs of the Los Padres National Forest Ojai Ranger District.

Boggs said a 250-pound male bear was trapped Friday in Rose Valley, 15 miles north of Ojai, and released in a remote area of the forest. Bears have broken into some Rose Valley residences recently, causing $4,000 in damages, rangers said.

The rangers have posted new signs at the Rose Valley campgrounds to alert campers to secure food in their vehicles. “We haven’t had any bears make any stands against people, but they will challenge you to get your food,” forest firefighter Mike Pressmeyer said. “They’re real good at opening ice chests.”