INDEX, Wash. — A person sustained minor injuries after being attacked by a mother bear and her cub while taking out garbage over the weekend in Index, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The incident occurred along Index-Galena Road, prompting the Sultan Police Department to issue a public warning. Local residents report seeing an increased number of bears venturing closer to residential properties in search of food over recent months.
Local resident Mark Protasiewicz captured video of bears trying to pick apples in the area -- weeks before the attack. Protasiewicz noted that bears have frequented the area for months, seeking food from local fruit trees.
Protasiewicz also described a separate close encounter involving a child at a nearby park.
“Yeah, momma’s up in the tree!” Protasiewicz said, while showing the recording of the animals.
Protasiewicz later recounted a different park encounter involving a child.
“I guess a girl was at the park the other day, and it was up in the tree, and came down and it was five feet away from her,” Protasiewicz said.
Protasiewicz added that bear sightings are widespread.
“Oh, there’s a lot out here, there seriously is, yes, and there’s so much fruit trees,” Protasiewicz said.
Low water levels in the local river have further disrupted the bears’ natural food supply, according to some residents of Index.
A local resident living along the river, who asked not to be identified on camera, said hungry bears and cubs entered her property and acted aggressively toward her very young niece.
“The river is low, and there’s no fish,” the woman said. “They’re hungry and fruits and stuff are bad this year, I guess.”
Former Index resident Shane Turnbull says he recently moved to Gold Bar, but he lived and ran a business in Index for years.
Turnball said bears have been so common near his home that he began naming them, including a large bear he discovered in his trash container.
“Up out of that dumpster hopped this huge cinnamon colored bear and that was Lola, and I go, ‘Woah, nice doggy,’” Turnbull said.
Turnbull noted that encounters involving mother bears require cautious handling.
“I’ve been around bears that had cubs and mother bears would stand up and just look and you,” Turnbull said. “Let that bear know that, you know, you’re just going to back away, and go behind a rock for the next 15 minutes.”
Following the attack, Turnbull reflected on living near wildlife in Index.
“You realize you have to change at that point, if that bear’s going to be around the neighborhood,” Turnbull said.
In response to the bear attack, the Sultan Police Department posted a message on Facebook urging residents to avoid the bears, if you see or run into them.
That being said, if you do spot a bear, call the Sultan Police Department’s non-emergency line at (425) 407-3999 or the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife at (360) 902-2936.