By Mary Anderson
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
July 8,2002
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John E. Abernethy / The Courier-Tribune
WAITING GAME - An American Black Bear, above, rests its head on the branch of a pine tree in a Level Cross neighborhood Sunday. The bear has been about 30 feet up the tree since about midnight Friday. Wildlife officials expect hunger and thirst to motivate the bear to climb down on its own. Below, area residents watch from a distance.
LEVEL CROSS - An American Black Bear spent its second day sitting 30-feet high in a pine tree on Georgia Drive.
Wildlife authorities plan to just leave the bear alone and hope he will decide on his own to leave the tree in the next day or two.
The young male bear is not in a critical situation, Alan McLeod, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) officer said Sunday afternoon.
"For the bear's sake, people should stay away from the area and just let everything get real quiet. He's scared and he just wants to get away from there, but he probably won't come down in the daytime," McLeod said.
The adolescent bear reacted to dogs barking, and one who got out of a fence to chase him, and climbed the pine tree around midnight Friday night.
As the word spread, onlookers gathered or rode by to see a real live bear - in a pine tree - in Randolph County.
Stacie Wilson, whose backyard pine is occupied by the bear, said Sunday afternoon that the traffic has stopped and the only people around are those who live in the neighborhood.
The Level Cross Fire Department blocked Georgia Drive to all but local traffic and had a volunteer fireman in the area from early Saturday evening until Sunday morning. Fireman had also placed a bucket of water under the tree.
"We asked people to stay away and tried to keep everything quiet," said Steve Russell, assistant chief. "A bear's sense of hearing and smell is so keen, he knows when someone is around. We hope that tonight, with no one around, he'll come on down."
Wildlife Officer McLeod said the bear weighs about 150 pounds and is probably about 2 years old - his first year out on his own.
Bears climb up and down trees all the time, so coming down is no problem. He's been out of hibernation long enough to build up a layer of fatty tissue, so food is not essential. Dehydration is not a serious concern for up to three or four days.
McLeod said there are no plans to tranquilize the bear because he could be hurt by the fall.
As for any rumor that the bear might be shot, McLeod said, "Absolutely not. That would not be an option."