Warning: getimagesize(): Filename cannot be empty in /home/customer/www/methowvalleynews.com/public_html/wp-content/plugins/tiled-gallery-carousel-without-jetpack/tiled-gallery.php on line 214
WDFW hopes relocated black bear will fear humans
By Ann McCreary
A young black bear was trapped in a cage, darted with an immobilizing drug, fitted with a yellow plastic ear tag, transported up a rough mountain road, and shot at with loud cracker shells and paint balls after being released from the trap last Sunday (May 17).
Given all that, the bear has plenty of reasons not to like his human captors, and that’s just what the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) officers who caught the bear are hoping.
The bear, a male, estimated to be 3 years old and about 130 pounds, got himself in trouble by killing a baby goat on Bawlf Road near Buzzard Lake east of Loup Loup Summit last week.
The bear had been seen on several occasions in the area, which has numerous homes and farms with livestock. The bear had damaged a chicken coop in an effort to get at the chickens and appeared very interested in a remaining baby goat, said Sgt. Dan Christensen, WDFW police supervisor for Okanogan County.
It returned even after a property owner shot at it and after WDFW called a hound owner to chase it with dogs.
WDFW police officers set a trap in the area and caught the bear Saturday night.
Christensen, along with officers Cal Treser and Justin Trautman, took the bear in the cage, mounted on a trailer pulled by a WDFW truck, up Boulder Creek Road toward Tiffany Mountain. When the effects of the immobilizing drug had worn off, officers opened the cage door.
At first the bear stayed inside, but after officers banged on the end of the cage the bear cautiously stepped out. He was met with a barrage of cracker shells and paint balls from three WDFW officers.
The bear dashed away, and was last seen running in the general direction of Tiffany Mountain.
‘Hard release’
Called a “hard release,” the assault is meant to save the bear’s life by making it fearful of humans so that it won’t return to homes or farms. If it were to return and continue damaging property or livestock, he would likely have to be destroyed, Christensen said.
“We hope this gives him a chance,” said Christensen.
It was the first bear captured in a new bear trap that was donated to WDFW earlier this year. The trap was manufactured by a WDFW shop that builds fish screens, and is more humane than the older bear traps used by the department, Christensen said.
He described it as “a giant have-a-heart trap on wheels, designed to withstand the strength of a bear.”
The older traps have portions made of wire mesh that bears can sometimes get their claws or teeth caught in, and are mounted on trailers that have no suspension. The trailer carrying the new trap has suspension so that the bear isn’t jostled as badly in transit.
The cost of the trap was funded largely through a donation from Tom Bihn, a Mazama homeowner, who said he was inspired to make the gift after attending a presentation by WDFW and other organizations about protecting wildlife and natural resources.
As of Tuesday (May 19), WDFW has three traps, including the new one, set up to try to capture bears at Leader Lake, JR Campground and the Aeneas Valley, Christensen said.
G A L L E R Y
Conscious but unable to respond, the bear is immobilized so that an ear tag can be attached.
A young black bear heads for the hills after his release as WDFW police officers fire cracker shells and paint balls at him to make him fearful of humans and discourage future attacks on livestock.
