Bear spotted in Healdsburg
The tasting rooms were closed, the restaurants and boutiques were dark. The bear that visited Healdsburg in the middle of the night may have been a tourist, but it wasn’t looking for the usual visitor activities.
“We received a report at 2:13 in the morning that a bear was running northbound on First Street near Matheson,” said Healdsburg Police Lieutenant Matt Jenkins.
According to Jenkins, the bear “was in the populated area for about an hour.”
Luis Rodriguez, the night sergeant on duty, wrote in an email: “We had a furry visitor in town last night. It ran around downtown and in our back lot for a while, then eventually headed off to the east outskirts of town.”
Rodriguez took photos of the bear in the back lot of the police department off Center Street.
Jenkins said the bear was seen in the general area of Fitch Street as well. “It’s not uncommon for bears to come into populated areas,” Jenkins said. “We called Fish & Game and they said to just let it be, as long as it’s not endangering human life.”
At 3:08 a.m. the bear was seen heading east out of town toward Fitch Mountain. Jenkins pointed out that, in photos, the bear seemed barely as tall as the bumper of a truck.
A teen bear out for a curious look around? Probably too young for the tasting rooms anyway.
