Multiple reports of bear sightings in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol

Reports of bear sightings in west Santa Rosa and Sebastopol are lighting up social media, with authorities asking people in the area to be aware.

Robert Payne was on a walk with his 4-year-old daughter and chocolate lab Sunday morning when he saw what he believed to be a brown bear just south of West College Avenue, near the Cal Fire Santa Rosa Fire Station.

“I’m not going to lie to you, I was shocked,” said Payne, 35.

Pretty much as soon as he caught sight of the animal, the bear about-faced and started running in a southeastern direction, toward Stony Point Road, he said.

When the trio got back home, Payne called the Santa Rosa Police Department, which then referred the call to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

“I fish and I’m outdoors a lot, so that’s why I was kind of - I was pretty dumbstruck when I saw it,” Payne said. “I was like, there’s no way there’s a bear right here in Santa Rosa.”

The Sebastopol Police Department received two reports of a bear sighting Monday. The first call came in to police about 3 a.m. Monday, reporting a bear attempting to enter the caller’s goat pen in the area of Gravenstein Highway North and Mill Station Road. A second call reporting a bear came in that same morning, reporting a large bear walking along Hurlbut Avenue.

In a news release, the department advised that people in the area should secure their livestock, and make sure garbage cans are fastened tightly.

“A single food reward could cause a bear to return to search for more food,” the department said.

Anyone who encounters a bear should not approach it, but call their local police department, sheriff’s office, animal control office or the Department of Fish and Wildlife.