Bear facts

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Fabs, this is the same state gamelands that butts the farm I told you about earlier....by the way, what ever became of that? Told ya was good hunting lands. A real deal for you.


SOUTH BEAVER TWP.


- Her three dogs were barking like crazy Tuesday night, so Patti Worthington assumed someone was creeping around outside her house in South Beaver Township.

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But she got the shock of her life when she peeked outside the kitchen window and saw a black bear, its paws perched on the windowpane at 112 Moore Road, peering in at her, instead of a possible burglar.

"I said holy (expletive), it's a bear. My husband said, 'Have you been drinking?' "

Sure enough, it was a cuddly-looking black bear, weighing in at about 300 pounds. Worthington's family oohed and ahhed out the window before she called the state Game Commission.

"It's pretty cool," said Worthington's daughter, Jenn Shanahan, 15, who nicknamed the bear "Coolio."

Doug Carney, state wildlife conservation officer, said black bears aren't unusual in western Pennsylvania, especially in places such as Westmoreland County. Although the population here is not as dense, a bear, probably the same one, was spotted about four times last week throughout Beaver County, including parts of Economy, Harmony Township and Conway, and in South Beaver and Darlington townships.

Carney said the bear, a young male, even wandered into a nearby nudist camp in South Beaver and also tried to get into the house of Worthington's neighbor as she baked apple pies.

With a back yard that connects to 23 acres of state game lands, Worthington said her family has seen plenty of wild animals - coyote, deer, fox - but this was a first for black bear.

The Game Commission told the family to keep away from it, that it would eventually go away, but if it didn't, they were directed to call back again.

The bear was back the following night and destroyed several hanging bird feeders to get the seed. On the third night, he had begun to burrow under the house, possibly looking for a place to hibernate. Worthington called the Game Commission.

"I said, 'We have a bear here getting cozy outside,' " she said. "They're destructive."

On Thursday, Game Commission officials brought a cage-style bear trap and three dozen doughnuts to lure it inside. Officials demonstrated how to use the trap and stationed it in the yard next to the house. By 5 a.m. Friday, the family could hear the bear outside, bellowing and thrashing back and forth in the cage.

"I felt sorry for him," Worthington said.

Carney said the commission plans to tranquilize the bear and pull one of his teeth to determine his age. His ear will be stamped before he is released into the wild in Indiana County.

Worthington, who has been feeding him cherries, honey and Indian corn, said she is pleased.

"He'll be free, away from houses, in his own natural environment," Worthington said.