Bearly hanging on

Published 8:00 am Monday, July 4, 2022

BAKER CITY — It was a perfectly ordinary summer Sunday morning, July 3, on Foothill Drive, until the bear arrived.

The yearling male black bear’s appearance around 8 a.m. gave residents in the south Baker City neighborhood an unusual bit of excitement on the holiday weekend — and one that didn’t involve fireworks.

Lasted longer, too — more than two and a half hours elapsed while a state wildlife biologist, police and other officials worked to bring the bear down from its perch about 25 feet up in a birch tree, place the animal in a cage and drive it out of town to be released in the wild.

A crowd of about 20 people who had watched the incident clapped and cheered, with yells of “good job” and “thank you.”

Brian Ratliff, district wildlife biologist the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Baker City office, who shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart, said with a chuckle that it was his first standing ovation.

Ratliff helped load the bear into the cage on a trailer connected to his ODFW pickup.

He estimated the bear weighed about 150 pounds.

The episode started when the bear was seen at Quail Ridge Golf Course, on the hill directly west of Foothill Drive.

Julie Bouchard, who lives at 235 Foothill, on the west side of the street, said she had just let out three dogs, one of her own and two belonging to her daughter-in-law, Megan Cloyd, when she heard someone yelling, from the golf course, about a bear.

Bouchard quickly brought the dogs inside — Louie, her boxer-bulldog mix, and Cloyd’s black Labradors, Lola and Lola’s daughter, Sammy.

Cloyd, who grew up in Baker City and moved to Moses Lake, Washington, about four years ago, was visiting for the Fourth of July weekend with her children, Nicholas Cloyd Jr., 10, and Scarlett, 11.

Bouchard said she watched the bear rumble through a field near her home, cross Foothill Drive and climb the birch tree between two apartment buildings directly across the street.

“It was so cute while it was running,” Bouchard said.

Bouchard, who has lived on Foothill Drive for about a decade, said she’s never seen a bear in the neighborhood.

Two Baker City Police Department officers responded, along with a Baker County Sheriff’s Office truck and two Oregon State Police troopers.

Baker County Sheriff Travis Ash also drove to the scene.

Baker City Police officer Lance Woodward directed traffic along Foothill Drive. A car rolled through every few minutes, most driven by curious residents wanting to get a look at the bear.

Ratliff arrived about 9:45 a.m.

He prepared a tranquilizer dart and, with his gun resting on a barbecue near the base of the tree, fired a dart, hitting the bear around 10 a.m.

The bear scrambled several feet higher in the tree but became stuck between branches.

Jeff Smith of J2K Excavating, who also lives on Foothill Drive, offered to let officials use his bucket lift.

He drove the machine down the street, arriving about 10:25 a.m.

Ratliff and Ash climbed into the bucket along with Noodle Perkins, Baker County roadmaster, who operated the lift.

Ratliff used a handsaw to cut several branches, allowing Perkins to maneuver the bucket to just below the bear.

Ratliff secured the bear with a rope before lowering the animal into the bucket.

Perkins lowered the bucket and drove the machine to the cage, where Ratliff and others transferred the still unconscious animal into the cage around 10:45 a.m.

Ratliff and Ash both thanked Smith for donating the use of the bucket lift.

But before Ratliff could drive away, hauling the bear to a location well away from town, he had to field congratulations from many in the audience, who were happy that the bear survived the ordeal.

“Another day in Baker,” Cloyd said with a laugh as the crowd dispersed.