Grin and bear it
BRIAN WALKER/Press This young black bear didn’t appear to adhere to this warning on Eighth Street in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday as it scurried between trees to climb. The bear remained in a tree on the street at presstime on Wednesday night.
BRIAN WALKER/Press A young black bear climbs down from a tree before climbing another on Eighth Street in Coeur d’Alene on Wednesday.
Craig Walker of Idaho Fish and Game keeps an eye on a wandering black bear before it climbed another tree in Coeur d'Alene on Wednesday. (BRIAN WALKER/Press)
Idaho Fish and Game officials made a few attempts to tranquilize this yearling bear that made its way up trees on North Eigth Street in Coeur d'Alene Wednesday. After a few attempts to get the bear down, officials chose to let the bear rest. Officials will return to the neighborhood to check back on the bear. (LOREN BENOIT/Press)
COEUR d'ALENE — A young black bear apparently trying to find its own way Wednesday found itself in the middle of Coeur d'Alene — with an audience cheering him on.
The yearling, estimated at 60 pounds, was first reported to Coeur d'Alene Police around 4 a.m. He was reported again around 7:30 a.m. in the 1800 block of North Eighth Street, three blocks north of Venture High.
Authorities and neighbors kept an eye on the bear for five hours in hopes it would naturally move back to the woods on nearby Canfield Mountain.
Idaho Fish and Game eventually tranquilized the bear in a thick tree and, after that didn't drop the animal, officials decided in the early afternoon to simply leave it alone.
"The best case is that it will get dark and the bear will move on," Fish and Game spokeswoman Kiira Siitari said. "If it hasn't habitated in town, we don't expect it will be a problem. The more space the bear has, the better. Given the bear's small size and because there are no previous reports of the bear in town, we do not believe the animal is a threat to public safety."
Siitari said wildlife biologists became concerned that the longer the bear stayed in the tree because of onlookers below, the more it could become stressed on a hot day without water.
Craig Walker, IDFG's regional conservation officer, said there was always some safety concern with a bear on the loose inside the city limits, but the hope is that it will want to avoid people and head back to the mountains.
"It doesn't want to be here," said Walker, adding that he thinks the bear came from the Canfield area. "Hopefully it will leave on its own."
The Coeur d'Alene National Forest is only a mile from where the bear was hanging out.
A cargo net under the last tree the bear climbed up about 60 feet was removed before authorities left the scene.
"The first [tranquilizer] dart, if it hit the bear at all, was not enough to knock it out," Siitari said. "The second two darts hit branches. Our wildlife biologists determined that the bear was alert and unlikely to fall."
Siitari said the bear is likely trying to find its own way.
"The mom probably had the next round of cubs in the spring and this one got the boot," she said.
Siitari said IDFG will continue to monitor the bear's movements. If it remains in the city, the department may try to tranquilize it again.
"Fish and Game will always prioritize public safety when wildlife is near cities, towns and homes," she said, adding that sightings can be reported to IDFG at 208-769-1414.
Siitari said an IDFG biologist returned to Eighth Street at 4 p.m. and the bear was still in the same tree.
"People were still taking photos, but after things clear out, the bear may climb down," she said.
Bear sightings in town do happen. In 2014, a black bear was spotted in a tree near Woodland Middle School.
Nicole Holmes and Anthony Yzaguirre said they woke up to their neighbor's barking dog and animal control officers outside their apartment on Eighth Street watching the bear in a tree.
"We're just not used to a bear being in the middle of the city near the freeway," Holmes said with a smile.
Yzaguirre said it was the first time he's seen a bear in person. He said he never imagined the experience would be outside his front door.
The bear stayed in the tree for about three hours and, at one point, scratched itself with branches and seemed to pose for its audience below in a clearing in the tree.
When it climbed down, it zig-zagged south on Eighth. Authorities followed. It briefly climbed a smaller tree before deciding that wasn't its next hangout, and then scaled another evergreen the next block down. During its journey between trees, the bear and a loose dog briefly checked each other out from a safe distance, but the encounter didn’t become tense.
"This is why we live in North Idaho," Rich Nyquist. a neighbor, said. "But obviously it can also be a threat as a wild animal."
Since black bears are common in the North Idaho forests, officials recommend limiting bear attractants like exposed garbage, uncleaned barbecue grills and pet food left outside around homes. If bears become accustomed to finding food near cities, they may become a safety threat and have to be euthanized, IDFG officials said.
Police issued occasional warning reminders to onlookers.
"If the bear takes a wrong step on a branch, he may be coming down sooner than he expects so be ready," Coeur d'Alene Police Animal Control Officer Jon Beamesderfer said.
Other neighbors, including Virginia Burgess, took the bear's visit in stride.
"It's not any different than the deer," she said, while continuing to water her plants during the commotion. "But if you love wildlife, you enjoy seeing it."
Another woman broke out a lawn chair in the shade of her front yard and read a book with the bear activity in the background.
Neighbor Mark Blackstone said he has seen an array of animals during the 47 years he's lived on Eighth, but never a bear.
"We've had it all — raccoons, hawks, peacocks, osprey, deer — but this is the first time for a bear," he said.