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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us June 8, 2006 Bear ransacks garbage, enters home Neighbors say bruin seemed experienced By Alan Panebaker Ashland Daily Tidings A small bear invaded an apartment on Iowa Street Tuesday evening, startling three women before heading outside to visit some garbage cans. Roanne Lyall said her cousin, Tanya Sangrey was using a computer in the apartment when she looked up to see a waist-high brown colored bear. Lyall said Sangrey came into the living room in a crouched, defensive position with her “eyes as big as saucers.” “She said, ‘There’s a bear in the house,’” Lyall said. “I looked at her and thought, ‘Why was she walking like that?” Lyall’s granddaughter, Kelly Mamaradlo was getting ready to watch a movie when the bear popped in. She called the police, who responded quickly and shooed the bear toward the wooded hills nearby. According to Ashland Police, the bear was last seen in a tree at the corner of Idaho and Iowa streets. “I didn’t see the bear until it came waltzing through the kitchen,” Mamaradlo said. Lyall said the animal came into her house through a door that she always leaves open for her 17-year-old dog. The canine was not injured in the incident. Neighbors Robert and Colleen Ward, who live in another apartment building next door, thought they saw two bears Tuesday evening — although they never saw them both at the same time. Watching from their upstairs apartment window, the couple saw a bear casually open a trash can lid and scoop out what it was looking for. “He looked like he had done it before,” Colleen Ward said. The Wards also saw a bear scamper along the sidewalk next to Lyall’s apartment building before scaling a fence and trotting inside. Ashland Police Sgt. Bob Smith said the department has received more calls about bears than usual this year, although he did not have an exact number available. “We’ve had a number of calls,” Smith said. “Most of the sightings occur around the park.” The most recent bear sighting was near the playground in Lithia Park. Officers frightened the animal into the woods, Smith said. Ashland Parks and Recreation Director Don Robertson said a bear got into some trash that picnickers had left high in the park earlier this week, despite signs that warn people to pack out all garbage. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists have been stressing the importance of keeping smelly garbage inaccessible to bears. Locking trash cans if possible and cleaning them out regularly with ammonia is the recommended method. Kelly Mamaradlo’s personal bear encounter contained a hint of irony. “I go out camping in the woods and don’t see a thing,” Mamaradlo said. “Then I come home, and there’s a bear in my house.” Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or [email protected]. . DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams