Lengthy effort needed to remove black bear from tree in Owen Sound
Tranquilized bear fell to ground – apparently unharmed – after efforts to persuade it to come down failed
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OWEN SOUND – A tranquilized black bear high in a tree fell to the ground – apparently unharmed – after experts were unable to persuade it to come down on its own in Owen Sound.
The two-year-old female was visible through the tree’s branches, which were only beginning to leaf. She rested in the highest crook of the tree, some 40 to 50 feet above the ground, along the fence line behind the 14th Street apartments at 305 14th St. W. and the Salvation Army offices.
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Owen Sound police, Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry bear technicians and others stood beneath the tree. A pickup truck and cage on a trailer parked nearby would later take the animal away.
Residents of the apartment building and people at the Sally Ann watched events unfold on Tuesday. Before police asked them to move back, a few were seated at a picnic table under a pergola, halfway between the westside apartment and the bear in the tree.
None of the residents watching seemed to view the bear with much concern. Some lit cigarettes and others just settled in to watch on a cool and mainly sunny morning.
Officials tried startling the bear by sending a man up in a city cherry-picker truck, its arm extended above the bear. Next, a man repeatedly struck the tree with an aluminum bat. That seemed to stir the bear but it remained about where it was.
If it could coax the bear to move closer to the ground, the provincial officials were hoping to tranquilize and then catch the falling bear in a tarp, held hammock-like by men.
After a while, a woman with a jab stick containing a drug went up in the cherry-picker basket. She delivered the dose directly to the bear. After waiting a while, the woman came down and the truck motor was turned off. The bear started to move tentatively.
Earlier, a man who seemed agitated had scolded the people trying to deal with the bear. He said the bear was scared and wouldn’t come down with the commotion beneath it.
The bear had started to try to climb down the tree when, at about 11:15 a.m., it tumbled down, landing on a grass strip between a fence and the asphalt parking lot. It missed the three men holding the tarp, who tried to move to catch it. One police officer said the bear fell on its shoulder.
While the provincial ministry staff examined the bear, including by listening with a stethoscope, a woman from the Salvation Army parking lot could be heard profanely criticizing them for killing the bear. Someone responded it was the best they could do.
Later, a man with ministry announced to onlookers the bear’s vital signs were fine and the bear was all right. The bear would be released outside Owen Sound, he said. A city police officer understood there were no broken bones.
Samee King soon appeared with a lit smudge kit of burning sage and received permission to smudge the seemingly unconscious animal. By now it was loaded into the back of the cage, head facing the open rear door, with its tongue hanging out of its open mouth.
King lives in the apartment building but is from Neyaashiinigmiing, of the Bear clan. She was one of two First Nations members who appeared with burning sage.
Asked what she made of the situation, King said: “I’m not sure. It kind of hurt my heart. I think they should have left him alone.”
A police officer, armed with a rifle, stood by throughout the drama. Det.-Sgt. Craig Matheson later said by email there were concerns the animal could have “unexpectedly attacked someone.”
Police said the bear was there since 6 a.m.
Donna Peckham’s black pug, Gina, alerted her to the bear about 8 a.m. She lives nearby and was walking her dog behind the 14th Street apartments, she recounted about 10 a.m.
They walked toward the pergola and her small dog stopped, pooped three times and wanted to go right home, she said, and burst out laughing. “Dogs can smell” trouble but she herself only noticed the bear when noticing someone staring up at the tree, she said.
“And he’s resting his head between the branches,” Peckham said. “This is the first time I’ve seen a black bear.”
Brenda Lewis, a resident of the apartment building, was one of the people sitting under the pergola before police asked everyone to move because that was a potential escape route for the bear. “I’ve lived in the bush. I’ve been a lot closer than this,” she said shortly after 10 a.m. of her distance from a bear.
She encountered a bear in the bush once. It rose up on its haunches. She froze and it returned to all fours and left, she said.
“I get the bird’s-eye view sitting here. I want to see it. I’ve been here for two hours watching this,” she said enthusiastically. “There he goes, he’s moving. He’s got his head stuck out. I think it’s neat. What’s there to be scared of? He’s scared of us.”
Requests for information from the ministry at the scene were referred to an email address for responses.
A popular Owen Sound Facebook site included a video of a black bear walking through a westside neighbourhood on 29th Street West Monday, near a wooded area.
The province advises people to call 911 if there is an emergency involving a bear that presents an immediate threat to someone’s safety. Otherwise, call the Bear Wise reporting number 1-866-514-2327.
The ministry advises anyone encountering a black bear to slowly back away while keeping it in sight. Throw objects, wave arms and make noise if the bear does not leave. Do not run, climb a tree or swim away or make direct eye contact. If attacked, fight back.
For more tips on dealing with a bear encounter, see the Bear Wise information sheet online.
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