A Black bear is found in the middle of our downtown area in a tree

ALPENA – Downtown Alpena had an unexpected guest Wednesday morning and one that probably won’t be back any time soon. Article Photos News Photo by Steve Schulwitz Michigan, State Police Trooper Jamie Bullis and Alpena Fire Department Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Bob Adrian help to rescue a black bear from a tree. The bear needed to be tranquillized before being gently lowered to the ground. A juvenile black bear wandered downtown and took a swim in the Thunder Bay River before being rescued by police from a large tree near the Riverview Apartments and the construction site of the new Holiday Inn Express. After being safely removed from the tree, the bear was released into the woods near Atlanta awake and healthy.

At about 7:30 a.m. Wednesday officers responded to a call claiming a bear was running loose near the post office on Second Avenue. The bear was located and officers were joined by the Department of Natural Resources, troopers from the Michigan State Police Alpena Post and Alpena Fire Department personnel who tried to take control of the situation. The panicked bear made that difficult. The bear ran down Oldfield Street and climbed a tree in the yard of a resident for a brief time, but climbed back down and lumbered to the back of the former Fletcher Paper plant where it jumped into the river and swam to the other side. Police were able to corral it near the bi-path and forced it into the tree. Lt. Eric Hamp said during his 12 years on the force he has never encountered a bear in the city limits and he is unsure when the bear wandered into town, or why. “This is extremely unusual. We don’t know if it was looking for food in garbage or feeding out of birdfeeders or what,” Hamp said. “It was a public safety issue and we wanted to get it under control before someone got hurt. It isn’t something we were ever trained for, so hats off to the officers who responded quickly and took control of the situation.” The police reached out to local veterinarians for advice and Bruce Anschuetz, who provided a traquilizer gun. Pesky Paws also provided equipment for first responders to use to try to contain and rescue the animal. Once the bear was asleep Trooper Jamie Bullis and Deputy Chief/Fire Marshal Bob Adrian climbed into the tree, fastened a rope around the animal and, with the help of a large tree branch for support, they lowered it onto a tarp that also was secured by first responders. Bullis, while in the tree attending to the bear, said he had never been so close to a live bear and the smell of it was not pleasant. After the bear was returned to the ground safely the crowd of about 100 people who had gathered to watch the event unfold, cheered, clapped, whistled and complimented police and fire personnel for how they handled the matter. “It is something I will surely never forget,” Hamp said. “It is something I don’t think any of us will forget.” – To see more on Youtube