Black bear cub discovered in city

A black bear cub found a tree to climb north of Mountain Home.

A young bear cub wandered into town Sunday, hiding in a tree until Fish and Game officers and officials from the animal shelter were able to dart it with a tranquilizer and bundle it up to be released back into the hills.

For Fish and Game conservation officer Bob Sellers the day began with several animal calls. He had just taken care of an injured saw-wet owl that had been reported by resident's of the subdivision near the airbase behind Scrubby's and was headed to the Anderson Ranch area to deal with a bear complaint there, when the call came in at 11:18 a.m. about the cub in the area of N. 18th East St. and Beamon Road.

"When I got there, there were about six people trying to corral it in a flat, open field," Sellers said.

Eventually, the bear, which he estimated to be about 30 pounds and no more than six months old, went up a tree for safety. Kathy Alvarez of the city animal shelter, who is certified to shoot animals with a tranquilizer gun, darted the bear while it was up in the tree, "and it just went to sleep there," Sellers said.

By that time, a crowd of about 15 people had gathered. "Anything like that draws a crowd," he noted.

An off-duty police officer who had joined the crowd then climbed the tree, wrapped it in a blanket, and brought it down, where it was put in a kennel.

Sellers then took the bear, along with a juvenile coyote the city animal shelter had captured the day before in a homeowner's garage, and drove up to Unit 45 where he released the animals in two separate locations.

There was no indication where the cub had come from, or where its mother was, but Sellers believed it was old enough to have a chance of survival on its own.

Then Sellers headed back up to the Dog Creek campground where the campground host had reported a juvenile bear about 60 lbs. had been hanging around her camp trailer and banging on its windows.

The camp host from Elk Creek campground had shown up the previous day and scared the bear off, but by the time Sellers got there Sunday it had returned several other times. At about 6 p.m. that evening it showed up again and he succeeded in running it off, although it returned again Sunday morning, before being scared off again, he hopes, for good.

Sellers said the camp host had left some food outside, including food in a small refrigerator that the bear tore open to get at.

The berries bears often eat at this time of year have been significantly reduced due to this summer's drought, and Sellers noted that means bears are more likely to go near areas where humans are in search of food or garbage they have left out.

To avoid any bear-human conflicts, Sellers strongly urged anyone going into the hills to make sure all their food supplies are secured and not accessible to bears.