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Wandering bear invades grade school playground By VICKI GUARINO Morning recess interrupted a bear's picnic Tuesday at Griffin Creek Elementary School. The bear, making a circuit of neighboring orchards and berry bushes, ambled onto the ball field as youngsters played on the adjoining playground. As soon as they spied one another, the bear went one way -- into the hills -- and students went the other, back into the school. The visit, just before 10 a.m., wasn't only the wildlife encounter of the school year at Griffin Creek, said Principal Ginny Hicks. First came the snakes, Hicks said. Rattlesnakes. In the first week of school, one rattler was seen on the road, another on the ball field and one just outside a kindergarten class. Two got away, but the third was eliminated by a father wielding a trash can. All the activity makes Hicks wonder if she should assign someone to critter patrol duty. And maybe run bear drills? The snakes had wildlife biologists stumped, Hicks said. The biologists said rattlers are uncommon for the area. The bear was no surprise, however. Oregon Fish and Wildlife staff even knew it was coming. Griffin Creek neighbors had called the state office saying the bear was in the area and seemed to be heading toward the school. As it turned out, state biologists were trying to call the school to warn staff members as Hicks was calling them for advice. Assistant biologist Merv Wolfer said such sightings are common in rural areas this time of the year. A ready supply of fruit is ripening just as bears are eating heartily for winter. "They're eating practically 24 hours a day right now," said Wolfer. And they're likely to travel for treats. Bears outfitted with radio collars are known to stay in one area most of the year, but travel as far as 30 miles in a few weeks in September and October for food, Wolfer said. They can do some damage -- one recently tore the siding off a mobile home in the Applegate -- but aren't aggressive toward people, Wolfer said. Griffin Creek students and staff took no chances, however. Whistles sounded and student returned to class. "I was really proud of how well the kids followed directions," Hicks said. "They were very responsible about it." By lunch time, students were scanning the hillside, hoping for another sighting, said Hicks, but the bear was long gone. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA