Some Beary Strange and Sad News...

It must be a terribly slow news day if this is the big story of the day...

Yesterday in Queenie's neighborhood, a black bear found its way up a tree for a nap. Sadly, the bear did not survive the trauma of being shot with a tranquilizer dart and falling 40-50 feet into a net held by several police officers and DEC officials.

Here's what was reported in Queenie's local newspaper...

The attempted rescue of a young bear from a tree just blocks from a busy intersection in northwest Rochester took a horrible turn Tuesday when the animal was shot with a tranquilizer dart, fell from the tree and died minutes later.

The male black bear, estimated to be less than 2 years old and about 150 pounds, spent more than nine hours sleeping and lounging in a tree in front of a house on Parkwood Road after residents called 911 about 12:30 a.m.

They had heard a commotion outside their house, which is near Bernice Street, off West Ridge Road near Dewey Avenue.

Police arrived within 10 minutes and stayed all night.

"At one point there were eight (police cars) and they had their guns drawn ... they didn't know what to do," said Tom Fox, who found the bear with April Gleason.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation was called in shortly after police arrived, Fox said.

By daybreak, neighbors and passers-by started gathering, eventually growing to a crowd of about 100 — children carrying backpacks, adults with binoculars and zoom cameras.

Rochester police Lt. Janssen Rembert said the officers were there to keep the onlookers safe. "We had to be prepared ... it could've turned ugly," he said.

Bears in trees are typically allowed to take their own course and come down from trees on their own, said DEC fish and wildlife technician Ronald Newell. But this bear was in a residential neighborhood with dozens of people gathered to watch. Officials decided to play it safe and get the bear down to prevent anyone from getting hurt.

The fall

The plan, Newell said, was to tranquilize the bear with a dart and let it fall into a net so it could be transported to state-owned land to be freed. Several straw bales were placed around the tree and about eight police and DEC officials held out a net to help break the bear's fall.

It took Newell two tries to hit the bear with the tranquilizer dart, but once it was struck, the animal ran farther up the tree. Officials quickly readjusted the net.

If you want to read more, you can find the rest of the article here.

Source: Democrat & Chronicle