Post by shootsa410 on Jul 26, 2006 12:22:37 GMT -5
With all the bear sightings and bear reports Pa may have another record kill this year.
By the time it made its way to South Jardin Street, where it got up on its hind legs to bang on doors, it attracted a crowd of more than 100 spectators and eventually borough police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“It looks to be a juvenile male, about 150 pounds,” said William F. Dingman, Schuylkill County wildlife conservation officer, Reading, who coordinated the effort to trap and transport the animal.
Shenandoah police Chief Matthew R. Nestor, who was on scene, said the call came in around 3 p.m. “It was first spotted behind Antz’s old building at 124 E. Centre St., behind Lehigh and Centre,” Nestor said.
The bear was in a tree on Lehigh Street, said James Rusin Jr. of Shenandoah. Onlookers chased the bear from there, forcing it to scurry down the old railroad bed above Bower Street.
“The bear was running right up the middle of Jardin Street,” said James Rusin Jr., who resides at 229 S. Jardin St.
The bear ducked into the maze of backyards, fences and gardens between the unit blocks of South Jardin and South West streets, and it couldn’t find his way out again.
When Dingman arrived on scene a short time later, he shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart and the bear fell asleep cradled in the tree’s branches.
Dingman and Nestor contacted Shenandoah fire department volunteers, with a plan to tie ropes around the bear and lower it down.
At 6:20 p.m., Dingman climbed the tree. Just then the bear fell, dropped 20 feet and landed with a thump.
“His secure spot wasn’t quite as secure as I thought,” Dingman said, addressing the crowd that gathered in the street, which was blocked off. “The nice thing about it is he’s obviously still breathing. He’s breathing at a slower rate than I am after climbing up the tree and back down, so I think he’s doing well. No broken bones that I can feel. The neat thing about bear are they are a lot more flexible and resilient than humans. I am very confident that bear’s in excellent shape, but I might have a bruise or two.”
But since the bear took a fall, there was a possibility its adrenaline could counteract the tranquilizers. So Dingman, off-duty state police Trooper Michael Breznik, Shenandoah EMS volunteer Ann Marie Kovalewski and others worked quickly to carry the creature to a green metal cylinder atop a trailer connected to Dingman’s sport-utility vehicle.
“I have handled tranquilized bear in the past. He may look entirely harmless to you. But I can attest, having being bitten by a bear that was completely tranquilized, just because he’s tranquilized doesn’t mean he’s not a danger,” Dingman said.
The bear will be monitored by the game commission for the next 24 hours before it’s released in Center County, Dingman said.
©The REPUBLICAN & Herald 2006
By the time it made its way to South Jardin Street, where it got up on its hind legs to bang on doors, it attracted a crowd of more than 100 spectators and eventually borough police and the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
“It looks to be a juvenile male, about 150 pounds,” said William F. Dingman, Schuylkill County wildlife conservation officer, Reading, who coordinated the effort to trap and transport the animal.
Shenandoah police Chief Matthew R. Nestor, who was on scene, said the call came in around 3 p.m. “It was first spotted behind Antz’s old building at 124 E. Centre St., behind Lehigh and Centre,” Nestor said.
The bear was in a tree on Lehigh Street, said James Rusin Jr. of Shenandoah. Onlookers chased the bear from there, forcing it to scurry down the old railroad bed above Bower Street.
“The bear was running right up the middle of Jardin Street,” said James Rusin Jr., who resides at 229 S. Jardin St.
The bear ducked into the maze of backyards, fences and gardens between the unit blocks of South Jardin and South West streets, and it couldn’t find his way out again.
When Dingman arrived on scene a short time later, he shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart and the bear fell asleep cradled in the tree’s branches.
Dingman and Nestor contacted Shenandoah fire department volunteers, with a plan to tie ropes around the bear and lower it down.
At 6:20 p.m., Dingman climbed the tree. Just then the bear fell, dropped 20 feet and landed with a thump.
“His secure spot wasn’t quite as secure as I thought,” Dingman said, addressing the crowd that gathered in the street, which was blocked off. “The nice thing about it is he’s obviously still breathing. He’s breathing at a slower rate than I am after climbing up the tree and back down, so I think he’s doing well. No broken bones that I can feel. The neat thing about bear are they are a lot more flexible and resilient than humans. I am very confident that bear’s in excellent shape, but I might have a bruise or two.”
But since the bear took a fall, there was a possibility its adrenaline could counteract the tranquilizers. So Dingman, off-duty state police Trooper Michael Breznik, Shenandoah EMS volunteer Ann Marie Kovalewski and others worked quickly to carry the creature to a green metal cylinder atop a trailer connected to Dingman’s sport-utility vehicle.
“I have handled tranquilized bear in the past. He may look entirely harmless to you. But I can attest, having being bitten by a bear that was completely tranquilized, just because he’s tranquilized doesn’t mean he’s not a danger,” Dingman said.
The bear will be monitored by the game commission for the next 24 hours before it’s released in Center County, Dingman said.
©The REPUBLICAN & Herald 2006