Video: A what? Where? Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies respond to a very unusual call
Help get a bear safely out of Hickman.
Almost certainly that wasn’t on Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies’ to-do list Monday.
Still, it’s what they found themselves doing that afternoon.
Sheriff Jeff Dirkse told The Bee on Tuesday morning that the female bear weighs just over 100 pounds.
The Sheriff’s Office received multiple reports of the black bear being seen in Hickman, a community about 25 miles east of the heart of Modesto.
The bear was found in an orchard about a quarter mile from Hickman Charter School, said Trish Anderson, superintendent of the Hickman Community Charter District.
About 2:35 p.m., right around student dismissal time, the district was informed by the Sheriff’s Office about the animal. “I was like, ‘A what?’” she said by phone Tuesday morning. Parents who already had gathered their children were urged to quickly get to their vehicles and were allowed to depart. “The faces of the people were like, ‘Did she just say a bear?’ It was almost comical,” Anderson said.
The school was put on lockdown for about an hour, she said. Students who were boarding buses were returned to classrooms.
In an email to The Bee, Anderson said, “In my 20+ years of education, I have locked down lots of school sites, but I can say, I have never had to lock down a school site for the report of a bear within a block of the school.
“I deal with bears quite often as I am an avid outdoorsman and we own a cabin in Long Barn. I’m not generally rattled by one, and am aware of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to being around animals in the wild. I will say it hits a bit differently when you have 500+ kids in tow and you are dealing with a bear in close proximity!”
She praised school staff for quickly moving students inside and securing all gates. “Staff executed our protocols perfectly,” she said.
According to a social-media post by the Sheriff’s Office on Monday night, deputies and California Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel tranquilized the bear and relocated her to the hills.
Dirkse said he knows of no other bear-related calls in the 16 years he’s been with the SO, “but I may have missed one.”
Ken Paglia, an information officer with Fish and Wildlife, said the bear was not acting agressively, but finding it in Hickman was “extraordinary in itself.”
It’s not uncommon for bears to follow river corridors, he said, and where it was found was short distance from the Tuolumne River corridor. The animal probably came from Tuolumne County and was looking for foraging opportunities, Paglia said.
The bear is estimated to be 18 months to 2 years old, he said, and bears typically separate from their mothers at about a year and a half old. The animal was in good health, Paglia said.
What if you encounter a bear?
Black bear encounters resulting in human injury are rare in California, but can occur, according to Fish and Wildlife. Here are tips from its website:
If you encounter a bear and it does not see you:
▪ Keep a safe distance. Back away slowly.
▪ Let the bear know you are there. Make noise by yelling, clapping hands, use noisemakers, or whistle.
▪ DO NOT run. Do not make eye contact. Let the bear leave the area on its own.
If you encounter a bear and it sees you or approaches you:
▪ Keep a safe distance. Back away slowly.
▪ Make yourself look bigger by lifting and waving arms.
▪ Make noise by yelling, using noisemakers, or whistles.
▪ DO NOT run. Do not make eye contact. Let the bear leave the area on its own.
▪ Carry bear spray and know how to use it properly. If a black bear makes contact, fight back. Call 911.
