Bear sightings have become a weekly occurrence lately, but Discovery Bay is probably one of the least likely places you’d expect to see one -- a neighborhood filled with marine life and boats, not bears.
“He checked the video camera and there seemed to be a bear on the front porch,” said Carol Spain, talking about her husband who had a morning he’ll never forget.
The unexpected visitor came calling Sunday morning, leaving this Discovery Bay neighborhood stunned.
The cameras a few doors down captured the big guy too.
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“That’s normally the time I walk the dog in the morning,” said neighbor Sarah Stenning. “I could have opened the door and come face to face with it.
The delta community surrounded by canals and marine life isn’t exactly the natural habitat suitable for a bear.
“This is far from Bear Country,” said Spain. “We’ve seen ducks, we've seen geese, we've seen seals, we've seen otters, never have we seen a bear.”
Last Friday, a bear wandered through another Contra Costa County community, a neighborhood in Oakley.
While that would be a more than 13 miles trek, many speculate it’s the same animal on a quest for food and water.
“It could be a combination of wildfires and the current drought conditions that are causing wildlife like bears to look in other places for food,” said Ken Paglia of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
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The department speculates it could have traveled from as far away as Napa, the nearest bear habitat, and they’re hoping it finds its own way back to Bear Country.
Folks in Discovery Bay say their town’s not a place for bears.
“The chances of seeing a bear on our front porch or about the same as seeing a giraffe. Very unusual,” said Spain.
