A state game commission official this morning was looking for a bear in Butler.

As of 9:40 a.m. the bear was in an alley off Eau Claire Street.

Amy Larimore took a photograph Tuesday evening of the bear from her porch on Jefferson Street as it ambled across the end of Eau Claire Street.

Larimore said residents had been on the lookout for the bear since last Wednesday when it was spotted coming up from the railroad tracks, across East Jefferson and into the Institute Hill neighborhood.

A woman who owns a day care on Eau Claire Street was outside that day with one of the children when she saw the bear about three feet away.

“It turned around and went back toward the railroad tracks across from the (Butler Memorial Hospital) entrance (off East Jefferson),” Larimore said.

She said she called the police immediately, and an officer showed up with a canine unit.

Asked how she felt about seeing a bear in her neighborhood, Larimore said she was not scared of the animal, which she estimates weighs about 100 pounds.

“I was super excited,” Larimore said. “I’ve only seen a bear in a zoo.”

Mayor Tom Donaldson said he has been aware of the bear sightings for about a week.

“I’m going to try to register it as a Republican,” he joked this morning.

The mayor said city police have received calls on the animal, but added there isn’t much they can do about it.

He said, “It comes with living in this part of the state.”