http://www.yorkregion.com/article/92596
I live in a small town and we have lovely parks and forests around. Little forests. We don’t have enough to house a bear! But yesterday morning as I was getting into my car at 7:30 I wondered what a helicopter was hovering so close to my area was about. It turns out a couple of minutes from me police were after a bear in our little downtown area. Where did he come I can’t even imagine and how he made it this far into my town we wonder….there is a video clip and the following was written:
Top Stories
June 03, 2009 03:08 PM
Joe Fantauzzi When John Stephenson saw the York Regional Police helicopter this morning, he thought a criminal was on the run.
As it turned out, the suspect was bigger and furrier than any man, woman or child.
Emergency workers rushed to the a neighbourhood in the Wellington and Wells streets area around 7 a.m. to find a black bear, believed to be two years or older, up a tree.
"I didn't think I would ever see a bear in Aurora," Mr. Stephenson, 55, of Aurora, said while standing amid dozens of people, some with cameras and mobile phones capturing images and video.
By 9:45 a.m., firefighters and Ministry of Natural Resources officials had raised and leaned a ladder against the trunk of a willow tree.
As York officers carrying long guns kept a crowd in neighbouring backyards at a distance, the bear held his ground. A ministry official slowly walked up the ladder with a pole, known as a poke stick, topped by a syringe full of drugs.
A few moments later, the crew changed its plan, repositioned the ladder on another side of the tree and unfurled a tarp at the base in anticipation of the bear tumbling down.
Instead, it ambled up even higher into the branches.
Also in the crowd, Aurora resident Erik Bowles, 47, noted garbage collection was scheduled for the area.
"It might have just been garbage-picking," he speculated. "It's not everyday you see one of those. I think it's just scared with all the people."
Lynn Steele, 34, of Aurora said she believes too much development too quickly has driven wild animals from their homes and into surrounding neighbourhoods.
"I've never heard of this," Ms Steele said. "Wasn't there an elephant a while back?"
Ms Steele was referring to three elephants that escaped from Garden Bros. Circus in Newmarket about two years ago and were eventually corralled.
By about 10:05 a.m., the bear was visibly losing its grip on the tree branches.
Firefighters and ministry workers again positioned the tarp and about four minutes later the bear dropped. But didn't stop.
As emergency workers jumped out of the way, the bear, which by some estimates was in the 90 kg (200 pound) range, trekked further into the yard.
It sent some onlookers in a nearby yard could scrambling for safety by climbing a fence.
"Move back for your own safety!" one firefighter called out, when one man appeared to nearly fall over the fence.
At about 10:30 a.m., the crews, with the bear in tow, slung on the tarp, moved the sedated animal safely to a cage and placed a pink blanket over its face.
Bears have a home range and young male bears tend to move around, ministry biologist Warren May said.
"This male may have been moving outside of his area already, so we'll be taking him into an area that hopefully won't have as many people around," he said.
The ministry had not received any calls about the bear previously, he added.
"He just kind of showed up over night," Mr. May said.
Bears do wander into urban areas but not very often, he added.
"It's not the first time, it won't be the last time but it's not an every day occurrence," Mr. May said.
The plan was to release the bear north of the Greater Toronto Area, he added.
"You would never have this if it was a big skunk," Mr. Stephenson said lightheartedly. "No one would go near the place."
Have a lovely day…and if you are out walking…watch out for bears…. Judi xoxo
14 comments:
What an exciting morning!!!! I'm so glad they were able to capture the bear and relocate it. Hopefully it won't keep trying to come back into the populated area. Yep, you better be careful on your walks.....lol
We live in the middle of a forest and we had a bear in our backyard a while ago. I did a post on it. It was 1 in the morning.
I feel bad for the wild animals. We are chasing them out of their natural habitat.
Hugs,
Penny
Wow! That is amazing. I hope you are having a nice day.
We saw that on the news last night. Poor bear and poor neighbours. Good thing no one got hurt. Well maybe the poor bear is sore today.
YIKES!!!! He was a bit peckish and thought he'd land some goodies in the garbage!!!! Happy your safe! CHEERS! Michele
Oh I hope they get the little bear and put it back in the wild. Poor thing must be hungry or something. Glad you are safe and I pray that the bear is too.
Hugs
Patti
Well, that was a lot of excitement in your town! Of course, a great blogger would have run to the scene to get pictures!! Just kidding. laurie
My goodness! Such excitement! I am glad you are safe though and that the bear was taken to a safe area.
We may see an occasional alligator, but no bears!
Boy, that was exciting. I live in a first ring suburb and we get an occasional deer, wild turkey, raccoon, fox or coyote - but no bear. Thank Heavens! Hope you're having a good weekend. ~ Robyn
what excitement for your town!! glad the bear was rescued and then released. thanks for the comments you left behind during my "critique-this-space week." I enjoyed getting to know everyone's style and thoughts. see ya.....
Now that sounds like excitment. I think I would be pretty scared to see a BEAR in person. I did see some wild turkeys the other day and once, years ago we had a deer in our yard. I thought it was cute until it ate my roses!
take care,
Dawn
Hi Judi! Oh, how exciting and a little bit scary this must have been! Glad the bear was captured and taken back where he should be. He was probably scared! :)
I've been trying to cut back a bit on blogging. I love it so, but I was getting obsessed with it and thought I needed to post every day. I don't! So I'm trying to enjoy blogging, which I do, but not be so overly with it. I'm sure you know what I mean!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :)
I agree with the person who said that encroachment on their habitats has forced them into towns. This is happening more and more frequently in Florida. I have seen two bears while driving in the Ocala National Forest. They are amazing! Glad they got him and relocated him without injury to bear or man.
XO,
Sheila :-)
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