Bear Rescue

[TerryH]

Older news, sorry if it's already been around. Someone emailed it to me recently. I need a feel-good story occasionally.

Bear hanging by his nails! Apparently scared over the edge by traffic.


Pulled himself to safety and taking a nap. What else is there to do?





Tranquilized





Now he eats the cameraman..... JUST KIDDING!


Short story here... I can't copy/paste text from snopes for whatever reason.
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bearledge.asp

[widebody911]

I wanna know how he managed to catch the ledge! That's one lucky SOB (son of a bear)

[Moses]

Nice. I love bears.

[Jeff Higgins]

While on holiday in Yellowstone and driving accross a bridge a man comes across a bear hanging precariously from a bridge.

The bear seems distressed so the man approaches very carefully. He gets down on one knee and peers over the side of the bridge, only to see the bear clinging to life by his front claws.

The man goes for help, and returns with a net and a crane. With a great deal of planning and effort, they manage to stretch the net under the bridge and entice the bear to let go and jump into the net. They lower the bear safely to the ground, undoubtedly saving its life. The man has himself lowered in a sling along with the bear, so he can set it free from the net in the gully below. When he frees the bear, it looks back at him before walking off, and grunts what the mans takes to be a bear "thanks".

For years after the man often remembers and ponders the events of that day...

One day the man is walking through the zoo with his son. As they approach the bear enclosure, one of the bears turns and walks over to where they are standing at the rail. It stares at him and grunts, and the man can't help wondering if this is the same bear.

The man climbs tentatively over the railing and makes his way into the enclosure. He walks right up to the bear and stares back in wonder. Suddenly the bear rears up, wraps its front legs around the man and crushes him, instantly killing him.

Probably not the same bear.

[Zeke]

I had a whole 'nother image.



bare, bear, beer, it's all good.

[masraum]

article

TRUCKEE, Calif. - A 250-pound bear stranded under a bridge near Lake Tahoe was saved by an army of rescuers, a tranquilizer dart and a nylon net bought at an Army surplus store.

Claw marks on the concrete railing of the Rainbow Bridge show where the bruin's ordeal began, said Dave Baker of the Truckee BEAR League, who was the first to arrive on the scene Sept. 15.

It was walking across the span on Highway 40 near Donner Summit in the Sierra Nevada when at least two oncoming cars spooked it, causing it to jump over the railing.
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At one point it was dangling over the edge of the 80-foot-high bridge, but it caught a ledge and pulled itself onto a concrete girder beneath the bridge.

Officials initially decided nothing could be done, but when they returned the next morning and found it sleeping on the ledge, they decided to take action.

Volunteers strung the net beneath the bridge and an animal control officer shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart.

After the bear lost consciousness, volunteers used a pole to push it into the net, then lowered the bear onto the floor of the granite-strewn ravine as more than 100 spectators cheered.

The groggy bear was steered away from the crowds and back into the wilderness.

"I've been on a lot of bear rescues," Baker said, "and this is the most intense bear call that I've been on."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[flatbutt]

good thing that they spec'd the net properly. coulda been real embarrassing.

[RWebb]

I heard he can climb 5.12c...