Trouble Bruin
by Lenny Roberts

A 250-pound California black bear wandered into the Arbolada Friday morning and perched 50 feet in a tree until California Department of Fish and Game officers removed him after firing three darts from a rifle.
The first two, Fish and Game Warden Clint Garrett said, were blank, just to check the accuracy of the weapon. The third one was loaded with an immobilizing tranquilizer that eventually caused the 3- to 4-year-old animal to fall to the ground, where he was checked for injuries and placed in the bed of a pickup truck. The tranquilizing dart can be clearly seen in the above photo in the animal's right side above the holstered weapon of Senior Deputy Al Calderon.
"The first issue is public safety," Garrett said. "We never know what the predictability of wild animals will be." Garrett added that the bear seemed to be breathing well and there were no signs of broken bones.
Elizabeth Hermes, who has lived at 722 El Paseo Road for 27 years, said she first became aware of the bear at about 10:30 Friday morning in a large oak tree at the rear of the property owned by Ojai Valley School.
"I didn't notice it, but a gardener came in and said there was a bear in the tree," she said. She called Ventura County Animal Regulation officials, who dispatched Fish and Game officers and Sheriff's deputies, along with an ambulance just in case.
After taking a blood sample, Fish and Game officers transported the animal to an undisclosed location up Highway 33 in the nearby Los Padres National Forest.
Wayward bears are not unusual in residential area of the Ojai Valley. In July 2000, Sheriff's deputies received a call of a 2-year-old, 150-pound bear walking down El Plano Drive in Meiners Oaks, and discovered the bear on the roof of a home after it had climbed into a backyard tree at the corner of Pueblo Avenue and El Plano Drive.
In August 1997, an aging 300-pound bear had to be killed after it charged Sheriff's deputies following a botched attempt to capture it. The incident took place on the other side of the street from the safe capture on El Plano Drive.

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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