A Bear’s Tale

Neighborhood Events

As most of you know we sent out a Neighborhood Alert because of bear sightings on the north end of 136th Ave. E. and just above us in Heather Hills.  No pictures of the bear yet.

Valarie Okazaki wrote to say that because of the bear sightings in the Neighborhood she is hesitant about going on her morning walk. She did some research and found this:  http://www.bear.org/website/bear-pages/black-bear/bears-a-humans/119-how-dangerous-are-black-bears.html

 

 

Watch Out! “Trike” Riders

Neighborhood Security

Trike Riders

At 1345hrs on 30 Aug 2015 a group of people were observed spread across 136th Ave. E. in the blind curve.  Photos were retrieved from the Neighborhood cameras. The truck towing the “Trikes” was a blue Toyota Tacoma license number D52956K.  The Sheriff’s Office has been notified and supplied with pictures which show that these people reached the bottom of Jennifer Ct. E.. Fortunately no one was coming around the curve to meet these people. They left our Neighborhood at 1425hrs. Several of them were wearing GoPro cameras (about $400+ each).

 

–Locking Mailboxes– Stolen Mail

Neighborhood Activity

Carol Silvernail reported this to me and asked that it be posted in the Blog. Dav Eide and I appreciate people reporting things like this so that we can post them.

Fort Knox mailboxes are made in Grant’s Pass, Oregon and several of us in the neighborhood have them. I mention that because on Sunday morning (Aug 2) as we were driving up Military towards 122nd we noticed a lot of trash on the side of the road. When we came back a few hours later it was still there so we stopped. It was stolen mail. Most of it was junk but there were a few unopened official looking pieces and lots of envelopes that had been opened. The addresses of the stolen mail were from 81st Ave in Spanaway. There was also a traffic ticket issued July 28th to a girl from Bonney Lake driving without insurance. I called the Pierce County Sheriff non-emergency number this morning and within a few hours a sheriff stopped by and picked up what I had found. The Sheriff’s non-emergency number is 798-4721.

I also noticed a lot of other litter on Military, going up to 122nd. Maybe when the weather cools down we can clean up along the road.

A different kind of visitor arrives in Sunrise Terrace

Neighborhood Events

A mysterious plant appeared in my garden and the beginning of spring.  I was unable to identify the new arrival until last week when on the plant hosted a large number of striking black and yellow caterpillars that I could not ignore.  As it turned out the plant was worse than the caterpillars which turned out to be the Cinnabar Moth imported from Asia in 1960 to combat the Ragwort plant in Washington State.  I thought you gardeners might like the details on this shrub (or weed) that I found so interesting.

http://www.almostdailynews.com/2012/06/03/the-heroic-cinnabar-moth-evil-tansy-ragworts-natural-enemy/

 

—— Doggy Doors —— Invitation to a Burglar

Neighborhood Security

Kirk POSTED the following alert: Recently in Seattle a burglar confronted by a doggy door sized for a small dog used a piece of wire to unlock the deadbolt and enter a residence. Moral of the story from Kirk’s perspective is – Pet Doors are not safe unless they are locked when you are not at home or are asleep.   When Kirk asked me to review his BLOG I was reminded about my own Doggy Door which is similar is size to the one shown in the URL below:

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Thief-uses-doggy-door-to-burglarize-Seattle-home-313107481.html

This story serves to remind us all of the unintended security vulnerabilities we can introduce to our own residences from the best of our intentions.