SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Another bear was spotted in town between Northland trailer park and the YK Community Arena on Wednesday, surprising two men who were helping a friend fix up her home.

A black bear was spotted on Wednesday walking through Northland trailer park, surprising two men doing work on a friends home in the area. - NNSL file photo

"I was standing here putting on my knee-pads and at first I thought it was a dog," said Jeff Andre who was there at Northland with his brother Mark.

"I looked over and it was a bear," said Jeff who then let out a little yell that startled the bear. Mark then saw it and let out a yell, which Jeff said freaked the bear out and sent it on its way.

They then called the Department of Environment and Natural Resources who showed up on the scene after the bear had made its way into the rocks and trees beside the arena.

Andre said the bear was just a little one – about three feet tall with a nice coat of fur, and it looked well-fed.

It was probably a young bear that had just started to live independently, according to Judy McLinton, the head of communications for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"(Their mothers) kick the two-year-olds out around now," McLinton said.

McLinton said that bear season is not quite close to being over, and it varies from year to year depending on when they start to hibernate.

She said this bear was in an area that is normal for bears to pass through whenever they end up in town, and that it was probably on its way out of the city.

McLinton said the bear wasn't caught.

"That bear just went on its way," said McLinton.

Ironically, with lots of bears around this summer there have been few cougar sightings, at least compared to last year.

"Somebody had said they spotted one (in June) out by the Stag River but that was never confirmed," said McLinton.

Officials at the department were working whether cougars were starting to migrate North in the summer of 2004 after two cougar sightings that year, but since then the sightings have been sporadic.

"Sometimes they're around, sometimes they're not," said McLinton who mentioned the general thought about cougars is that they follow white-tail deer migration paths.

"We really couldn't talk that much about cougars – we don't really do that much with them," said McLinton.