Black Bear Sightings. A large black bear was sighted at 2:30 am Sunday morning in back of a Helena Drive residence along a green belt, and presumably the same bear in back of Nobles Lane residences at 7:50 am. We assume other reports have gone into the Department of Fish & Wildlife and hopefully something will be published in the paper as it seems this might be more of a transient bear rather than a local bear.
Eagle Picture. The attached photo was taken along the South Fork of Illahee Creek.
Jack just saw this Eagle swoop into our American Elm- which incidentally, according to Jim Trainer, is the 8th oldest in the state. I've attached the photos.
Our Shih Tzu was attacked several years ago, but either shook it off or she was too heavy. Dr. Relling confirmed it was an eagle by the claw punctures around her neck- one just missing her airway. Later on we discovered the scratches on her ID tags which may have been why she wasn't killed immediately.
Side Note. A few years ago we heard about an eagle nest that fell out of a tree near the Illahee Preserve and in the nest there were a number of pet collars from animals evidently carried to the nest by the eagles.
Illahee Beach Watchers. We were happy to see that at least three Illahee residents are taking the Beach Watchers Class being offered by UW Sea Grant and WSU Extension. There were over 50 who attended the first class that is being held at the Norm Dicks Center. We will let you know more about the program as it becomes available.
Squirrel Report. We received the following squirrel report.
Yesterday while backing out our lawn mower I was momentarily starred down by a small brown squirrel. At first it appeared she had a large nut or some kind of food in her mouth. But, we quickly realized it was a baby! She scurried away, but later we got a better look when she came out from under the VW. The baby wasn't in her mouth, but hanging on with his tiny feet wrapped up and around momma's neck. Way kewl! (sorry no picture she was too quick)
White Black Tail Buck. We had a report of a very white (albino markings) black tail buck and are hoping that someone will be able to get a picture of it and forward the picture so we can pass it on.
Beach Nourishment Informal Appeal Denied. The informal appeal of the Illahee Beach Nourishment project was denied by the Dept of Fish & Wildlife. Both the Port of Illahee and the Illahee Community Club are deciding what to do next. A formal appeal needs to be filed within 30 days which would be by November 13, 2009.
Send Info In and We Will Pass It On. Please send us info such as the bear sighting reports and we will pass them on to the community. We have roughly about 400 who receive the updates (blind copies) and we hear it is the wildlife updates they most like to get, so please help us with any reports you think your neighbors would like to hear about.
Jim Aho
