Officials: Black Bear Spotted Thursday Near Pine Lake Middle School

A resident near reported seeing a black bear in her backyard Thursday morning, prompting another reminder from officials about safety for students and community members.

officials sent an email to its school community members with news of the sighting. The animal also was seen near the bus facility near the middle school, which is off 228th Avenue Southeast, Discovery administrators said in their email.

Discovery Principal Tera Coyle confirmed in a phone conversation that her school sent the email. She said other district schools in Sammamish are likely to send similar notes to their families.

The sighting is the fifth of its kind in Sammamish in less than three weeks. The state Department of Fish and Wildlife was informed of the animal in the area, school officials said, adding that an officer might visit later for an inspection.

Last week, officials with that department told  administrators that bears are not a threat to people on a playground or walking home. On Sept. 12, there was a report of a bear near that school.

Teachers at that school encouraged students to stay out of wooded areas and to walk home in groups or pairs, if possible.

The sighting of the animal near Pine Lake Middle School is the second of its kind for that campus area this month. On Sept. 8, school officials notified parents that someone had seen a bear near that campus.

On Sept. 5, a teenager used her cell phone camera to take a picture of a bear in her yard, near . A day later, a Sammamish Patch reader noted in the comments section of that story that she saw a bear near her house. The animal was seen near state Route 202 and running towards Lake Sammamish, she said.

In June, Michael Pacholec took photos of a bear and at least one cub in his family's yard in Sammamish.

Discovery Elementary officials, in their note on Thursday, reminded families that wild animals, such as coyotes, bobcats, bears and cougars, are always around places inhabited by people in Sammamish.

Here are the safety tips they released:

Students

• Never make direct eye-contact with a threatening animal.
• Never turn and run away from a wild animal; slowly back away from the animal and make yourself appear as big as possible.
• Never feed or interact with any unknown animal.
• Report any unknown animal sighting to an adult.

Families

• Keep garbage and compost piles securely covered.
• Keep pet food and water inside and keep pets indoors or confined in a kennel or covered exercise yard.
• Do not feed wildlife on the ground, keep wild bird seed in elevated feeders designed for birds, and clean up spilled seed from the ground.
• Do not feed feral cats; coyotes prey on the cats and feed on cat food left out for them.
• Minimize ground cover vegetation near children's play areas to avoid attracting rodents and small mammals that in turn attract predators.
• Use noise-making devices when coyotes are seen. Check with local authorities regarding noise and weapons ordinances.
• Report a potentially dangerous wild animal to the Washington State Dept of Fish and Wildlife Dangerous Animal Hotline at 1-800-477-6224. Call 911 for all emergencies.

Sammamish Patch also has posted a story about safety advice and wild animals. Sammamish resident Bob McCoy added that people should look for "Bear Spray" or maybe "Bear Pepper Spray" - and not "pepper spray" as noted in the article.

Experts, he said, suggested that people give bears enough space to escape and to not shout "bear" at the animal. The reason: People who want to feed the animal often say "Here bear" - when the goal is to avoid the animal and give it space so it can leave.