A biker watches a bear run into a field off Orchard Drive, Chambersburg, Pa., Friday, July 25, 2014. The bear was being tracked by Conservation Officers and Chambersburg Police after it was spotted along streets and in backyards.
Nobody was there to hurt the bear. Let’s get that out of the way, now. Wildlife Conservation Officers of the Pa. Game Commission are sworn to protect animals – including the bear that decided to wonder into Chambersburg on a warm Friday morning in July.
July is a time many of us plan vacations to water parks, amusement centers and ocean getaways. I suppose bears get cabin fever and need to get away, too. Imagine the fun the little bear had strolling through the backyards of downtown businesses and overgrown brush in fields. (Think Pixar movies here, folks). This was not your average bear. This guy was adventurous.
Good instincts was in the mind of a bear that wanted to run when he noticed the attention he was receiving from men with guns and flashing red lights. How was he to know that they were trying to help him end his vacation early and be returned to his friends to tell inflated stories of his misspent youth?
This is not the first time one of his buddy bears ventured into Chambersburg. One bad news bear decided to climb trees and knock over garbage cans on South Main Street last year. He was caught and returned to the mountains. He is likely the most popular bear in his neck of the woods, now.
I caught all of the chatter on my police scanner after a woman stopped by the Public Opinion to tell me she captured photos on her smartphone of a bear walking across Lincoln Way West near Texas Lunch. Interested in her pictures, I set out to create my own photos of this brave 5-toed feet, canine teethed mammal.
I quickly noticed one thing when I exited my car on Progress Road – this little dude was fast – crossing about 60 yards in front of me , it was moving like a greyhound. I hopped back into my car and tried to follow him, losing site as it hid in yards in the Enclave Community. So I followed reports of sightings using my newly purchased police scanner. The bear was restricted to positions at the southern end of the Chambersburg border.
Despite inflated reports (mostly distributed by me), I’m not as fleet-footed as I used to be. Running back and forth between Mill Creek and Enclave was exhausting to say the least. I was never closer than 50 yards from the bear. Except for the one time when it darted from a yard and (out of my initial view) and ran past the rear of my car. He was close enough to wrangle (if I were a cowboy). I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough to aim and shoot. He disappeared like my paychecks, gasoline and weekends.
Luckily, I was able to get a few usable photos. But it wasn’t easy. Few things are…
by Markell DeLoatch /chief photographer /@markellPO on Twitter
