SACRAMENTO, California, March 27, 2021 (ENS) – A small, black bear showed up at a utility worksite in the tiny, tree-lined town of Pollock Pines, California last month. It was alone and possibly sick – lethargic and showing little fear of people. The bear was unmoved by the workers’ attempts to shoo it away by yelling and clapping.
Calls to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, CDFW, reported the bear had moved into a residential backyard in the heavily timbered mountain region, lethargic – certainly underweight, perhaps dehydrated – and showing no fear of people.
Contrary to CDFW guidance, residents began feeding the seemingly friendly bear with water, apples and strawberries. At one point, the bear jumped into a housekeeper’s open car trunk, prompting attempts to approach it and pet it.
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MORE Dr. Jamie Peyton, UC Davis Veterinary Medical Hospital, and California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) staff evaluate a lion s burned paw pads, as it is treated for burns sustained from the Bobcat Fire, at the Wildlife Investigations Lab, California, U.S., September 23, 2020. Photo by California Department of Fish and Wildlife/Reuters.
Gary Potter wasn’t paying much attention when he walked outside of his Monrovia home one night last September. And then he looked up.
There it was, the color of caramel, in his yard.
“The cat was stretched out right here in the grass, just staring at me. And I went, ‘hello,’” Potter said with a laugh in a video shot by the non-profit Cougar Conservancy. “And I just kind of slowly backed myself up and back into the house.”