Black bear captured in Hatboro. Check out video
A young male black bear was captured late Wednesday night after spending a day roaming around two eastern Montgomery County communities evading police efforts to find him.
Black bear sightings are not uncommon in southeastern Pennsylvania between April and June, when mating season happens. On April 30, a black bear was spotted in Upper Makefield in Bucks County.
It is unknown if the bear caught in Montgomery County is the same one spotted the day before 15 miles away in Bucks County. Male juvenile bears can travel up to 15 miles in a day.
Here is how the Montgomery County rogue bear story unfolded, according to police and social media.
Where was the first sighting of the bear?
At 6 a.m. Wednesday Upper Moreland police put out an alert that a black bear was possibly sighted near Farmstead Park in the 6600 block of Byberry Road in Upper Moreland.
When was the next sighting?
Around 7:30 p.m. police in neighboring Hatboro received a call that a black bear was spotted in the area of east Mill Road, near the Hatboro Cemetery on Fulmor Avenue.
When officers arrived, though, there was no sign of the bear, but the homeowner snapped a photo showing a black bear in the yard, Hatboro Sgt. Hatboro Sgt. Conner Dilks said.
When was the second sighting?
Two hours later, Hatboro police received another call for a bear sighting about a tenth-of-a mile away on South York Road and Newington Drive, near the border with Upper Moreland Dilks said. Police tracked the bear to Armour Road in Upper Moreland where it had climbed up a tree at a home off Armour Road, Dilks said.
How did they catch the bear in Hatboro?
The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which had been alerted to the situation, was in the area preparing to set bear traps, when they learned the bear had been located. About an hour after the second sighting, game commission employees tranquilized the bear and took custody of it, Dilks said. The bear was described as about 3-years-old and 255 pounds.
Where is the bear now?
Unknown. A Pennsylvania Game Commission spokesman did not immediately respond to a message Thursday morning, but typically juvenile bears are relocated to more suitable areas.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bear caught in Hatboro after day of roaming in Montgomery County
