Small Town Doin's

[Updated! Links to stories online, and a new photo!]

My neighbor roused me from my sick-person's nap to say, "Sorry to disturb you, but did you know there's a bear in the tree behind the Hauser's?"

No, I did not. I put on a sweatshirt and slippers and went around to the back yard where Greg was busy landscaping the fire-pit. "G-man, c'mon! There's a bear next door!"

So there we are, standing around the neighbor's back porch, passing around binoculars and watching people watch the bear. It's been there all day, a woman who works at Arcata House says. The redwood tree hosting the bear is in the Arcata House yard. A photographer is there, waiting for the bear to do something. I don't see the mayor, but Mark from the city council is across the street; he brought his family by earlier for a look. The bear is still sitting there.

Trust me, it's no clearer in this photo than it was to us standing in Donna's yard...see that light patch of bark on the redwood, about the center of the photo? Well, just above and to the left of that is a dark blob, the dark blob of unhappy bear.

UPDATE   Here's the link from the front-page story in the Times-Standard.  You can see the bear in their picture, too.

...and today's Times-Standard article.

...and a photo from the Co-op security camera!

 I love that he's looking in toward the deli...doesn't he know that the coffee bar closes at 6pm? Sheesh.