Columbus the Bear

This poor little lost bear swam from one of the islands in Puget Sound to the Des Moines/Federal Way area. Brian is a first responder for his company, Weyerhaeuser, and yesterday was on "bear alert" as the entire Weyco campus was closed down, including all of the public trails and the very popular Rhododendron Garden. Traps were set out last night and he was caught this morning. He's so cute....if he had pointy ears, he'd look like Sagan. Isn't he cute?

Apparently he's been dubbed "Columbus" because of his penchant for exploring. Since Columbus was lost, it's an appropriate name.
FEDERAL WAY, Wash. -- Officials say a bear that was spotted throughout south King County over the last week has been captured.The 205-pound black bear was found in a trap on the Weyerhaeuser campus in Federal Way on Thursday morning. The trails around the campus were closed Wednesday after the bear was spotted earlier in the week.

Wildlife officers believe it is the same bear that swam from Maury Island to Des Moines on May 25. The caretaker at the lighthouse on Maury Island saw it all. He told state biologists the bear was swimming fast -- it took him only one hour to make the two-mile swim. The bear came ashore around Saltwater State Park.

At the same time, the state says a commercial boat radioed the Coast Guard saying they had seen a swimming bear.Soon after the bear arrived in Des Moines, surprised neighbors started calling Fish and Wildlife agents saying "hey there's a bear in my front yard."

"He wandered right up here and he actually looked at me," said Phi Tieskoetter. "And I wondered 'Hey, is this actually a bear or a dog?' And he looked at me and I was like 'Holy cow, it's a bear.' "

Wildlife officials have named the bear "Columbus," since he appears to be quite an explorer. "This is the breeding season," said State Wildlife Biologist Rocky Spencer. "And if it's a male searching for a receptive female, he might go a long way for that. It's hard to say. "The bear caught Thursday was sedated and will likely be transported to a remote area of the Cascade Mountains to be released.