A young black bear “just lumped along,” this past Sunday, according to Albert Lee, a resident of Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. Comments from the Magnolia Voice, a local blog, indicate that neighbors are calling him Boo Boo and asking how he might have crossed Interstate 5—something that’s a challenge even for natives.

The next day, My Ballard, another neighborhood blog, reported that after “a nap,” the bear was “moving like crazy,” running through yards and back alleys, and escaping before officers could arrive.

The Seattle Public Schools sought to reassure parents late Monday that areas outside school buildings would be checked for safety. Among their tips should anyone be confronted by a bear:

Remain calm, identify yourself as a human, talk in a low voice, avoid direct eye contact and don’t throw anything. If that doesn’t work, try to scare it by doing the opposite: yell, stomp, clap, and stare it in the eyes. Whatever you do, don’t run or climb a tree, because bears can run 35 miles per hour and follow you into that tree.

Sgt. Kim Chandler of the Department of Fish & Wildlife promised the bear would be moved to the woods.

Track the bear’s journey here. It’s heading north…

View Bear sightings in Ballard in a larger map

(If the bear were really considerate, it would use a location-sharing service on its iPhone like Glympse, so everyone in its path could leave their picnic baskets properly stored.)

Tracking map on GoogleMaps from MyBallard.com. Additional reporting from MagnoliaVoice.com.