It's Raining Bears

Ever had one of those dreams where you're falling? This 90-pound black bear did Wednesday in Porter Ranch

It was "bears away" Wednesday in Porter Ranch.

Everything just fell into place when Fish and Game agents and fire-rescue crews extricated a bear from a pine tree. By extricated, we mean shot the bear with tranquilizers and waited for it to free-fall more than 15 feet onto a suspended tarp.

The roughly 90-pound black bear climbed the tall pine tree in the 12000 block of North Stewarton Drive.

"He's scared, that's why he's up in a tree," said George Struble, of the California Fish and Game Department.

Fish and Game agents and a fire crew set up an air cushion on one side of the tree and a suspended tarp on the other. After it was struck by a dart, the bear dangled from one paw before sliding down the branch.

It dropped right into the tarp after whacking a few branches along the way. Although it was groggy, the bear lifted its head for a look around after the end-over-snout fall and appeared in good, but dazed, condition.

Firefighters said the bear was small enough that the tarp prevented him from hitting the ground.

"It's kind of iffy when he falls like that," a fire official said. "We don't know where he's landing, and when he hits branches like that it changes his trajectory."

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The young bear will be relocated to an open-space area.

"Once he's healthy enough and walking on his own, we'll let him do his thing, " said Struble, the game warden who fired the dart. "He's not a nuisance bear. I don't think he enjoyed his city-time, so I don't think we'll have a problem with him."

Lesson learned from that grizzly situation in Missoula, Mont. (scroll down for video). That was unbearable.

Another Sign of the Bearpocalypse

A black bear weighing several hundred pounds paid a return visit to a San Dimas neighborhood.

The bear has been spotted in the neighborhood before, a resident told an RMG video crew. A sheriff's deputy said bears are coming down on trash days.

This time, her three cubs came along to search for food. The bear sighting was reported about 9 p.m., a watch deputy at the San  Dimas Station said.

"It was an awesome sight, but they say mommy bears with kids can be dangerous," Greg Tober told City News Service. "The cubs, they're little things, maybe a foot long. But we're very concerned. You go out your back door and you look up and guess what -- there's a bear."

Fernridge Drive is against the San Gabriel Mountains front  country, which used to be natural black bear habitat. As more homes are built  higher up the slopes, encounters with bears and other wildlife are more  frequent. 

In January, a bear was spotted the 2400 block of Terrebonne Avenue in San Dimas. It jumped over a chain-link fence and walked on top of a stone wall like a gymnast on a balance beam.

It ended the day trip with a dip in a backyard pool.

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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