Bears are most often seen in Sun Valley on Monday evenings or Tuesday mornings when they raid garbage cans awaiting pickup. However, the latest bear reported in the city was seen on Sunday evening, July 19, taking a swim at a condominium complex.
"It was sighted swimming at the Villager condo ponds," said Sun Valley Assistant Police Chief Mike Crawford.
Police were notified of the bear at about 9:20 p.m. that evening.
"One of our officers was able to shoot a cracker round at it and it ran off and we haven't seen it since," Crawford said.
A cracker round, Crawford explained, is a large firecracker-type device that is fired from a gun but only travels about 75 feet and makes a loud explosion.
According to Crawford, the bear matches the description—black in color and weighing about 150 pounds—of an animal trapped by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game on the morning of Monday, July 13. But Crawford doesn't think it's the same animal.
That bear had been raiding garbage cans and even tried to break into a garage before it was caught in culvert cage, which is basically a culvert pipe barred at its ends and mounted on wheels. Fish and Game officials declined to say where the animal was taken, but said it was at least 50 miles away from where the bear was trapped in the area of Fairway Road.
The latest bear was also seen in the Fairway Road area, which runs just east of the Villager condominium complex.
Crawford said there had been no reports of the second bear's causing problems.
"We haven't seen it since, but tomorrow's trash day and you never know," Crawford said Monday.
Terry Smith: tsmith@mtexpress.com
