Hide the garbage — bear on the loose

Caught on tape — one large bear sauntering down Santa Claus Lane. Santa Claus Lane is not in the North Pole. It's right here in Placerville on Canal Street at the residence of Jim and Del Myrna Murphy, a house known throughout the county for its lavish Christmas display.

The Murphys found the evidence of their nocturnal visitor Friday morning on a tape from one of the eight surveillance cameras surrounding their property.

"We watch the tapes in the morning while we're having coffee," said Del Myrna Murphy, 78. "We like to watch the animals that come into the yard at night."

This time, the tape for Aug. 26 showed a bear  coming into the Murphys' property from Canal Street at 3:44 a.m. It walked unhurriedly down their driveway where a sign designates it as "Santa Claus Lane,"  past Jim Murphy's workshop and a chain-link fence before disappearing from view into the open field near Harvey Court.

"I'm concerned about whether it came from the Markham School area," said Jim Murphy, 80. "I wouldn't want a late returning bear to meet up with someone getting to the school early."

It's not the first time the Murphys have caught a bear on one of their surveillance cameras.

"We've had three bears show up, " said Del Myrna. "The last time was two years ago and I called the Sheriff's Department, the Mountain Democrat and another agency, but no one seemed interested."

The Murphys have enjoyed seeing small herds of deer, raccoon families and even skunks frolic on their surveillance tapes, but the bears have been the biggest hit.

Bear sightings in the city are rare, perhaps because humans are usually asleep when bears are active at night. But with the black bear population at an all-time high, and expanding, according to the California Department of Fish and Game, encounters — whether through camera surveillance or up close and personal — might happen more often.

Bears are attracted to anything edible or smelly. To keep bears from perusing the neighborhood looking for a snack, residents should store garbage in their garage until pick-up day and clean barbecue grills after use. Pet food should be brought inside at night. Compost piles and bird feeders should be placed away from the house.

E-mail Wendy Schultz at wschultz@mtdemocrat.net or call 530-344-5068.

 

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Wendy Schultz

Wendy Schultz has been a columnist for the Mountain Democrat since 2002 and a staff writer since 2005. She covers Placerville city events and City Council meetings, writes feature stories and reports on things of interest in El Dorado County.

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