A young black bear was captured this morning about a mile south of us on the median of I-5. 
I’m sure he was just trying to establish his own territory which he’ll soon find somewhere else – compliments of WSDOT and State Wildlife agents.
Something that didn’t come out in the news story: the patch of woods where the bear was hanging also serves as a blind for radar traps frequently set up by the Washington State Patrol. This is one of the few wide-open spaces left on I-5 through Western Washington – the speed limit is still 70 mph, which means many people are pressing 80 mph or more on their way through. It’s the second highest spot in the state for number of speeding citations issued.
Gotta think the troopers were not happy to be sharing space with this particular youngster. Apparently, the bear was comfortable enough around traffic that it was visible to motorists part of the time, creating a risky distraction and slowing people down. Woops, there goes those tickets.
But the bear’s lucky he wandered onto the interstate median rather than into a local suburban neighborhood which always seems to cause panic. On the median, the bear was in more danger than any humans, especially with the cars moving so fast. And the humans most at risk (the State Troopers) were unlikely to panic – they were all packin‘ and hyper-connected to emergency services.
Photo KOMONews.com
