A bear took a stroll around Orcutt Tuesday morning before getting a free trip out of town.
“Officers from the California Highway Patrol Santa Maria area had an unexpected visitor reported all over town — a bear on a bit of a walkabout,” California Highway Patrol officers based in Santa Maria-based said in a social media post complete with bear emojis and hashtags such as #BearlyMadeItHome.
The bear’s trek took it to a few neighborhoods before being located near Benji Lane and Ruby Crest Court. The area sits east of Highway 135 between Patterson Road and Clark Avenue.
The initial sightings occurred near midnight and 4 a.m., per callers to CHP dispatchers, Officer Maria Barriga said.
By 6 a.m., law enforcement officers began receiving more reports of sightings helping them pinpoint the location of the bear, described as chilling in people’s backyards, and ultimately corral the critter.
Wardens from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife arrived to safely and humanely tranquilize the bear.
“He’s now in good hands and will be relocated to a safer and more suitable habitat,” the CHP said.
“We’re grateful to the community for keeping a safe distance and reporting sightings calmly,” the CHP said. “Remember: if you ever see wildlife where it shouldn’t be, give us a call — and give the animals plenty of space.”
To help authorities locate wildlife in populated areas, callers should try to include both the location plus the direction it’s moving, Barriga said.
Wildlife encounters aren’t unusual around Santa Barbara County.
There have been multiple bear sightings on the South Coast in recent months.
And in 2020, sightings of bears occurred in a Lompoc neighborhood and as a visitor in downtown Solvang before both were relocated. The Solvang visitor was so hefty the humans needed heavy equipment to load it into a truck for the bear’s trek out of town.
Also in 2020, Orcutt residents had an encounter with a mountain lion who wandered through a neighborhood before being tranquilizer darted and relocated to an area more suitable for big cats.
Wildlife encounters seem to mostly occur in the spring and early summer, state game wardens have said.