Cortez received a hungry but unwelcome visitor foraging for food on Sunday morning.
The Cortez Police Department reported that at about 3:30 a.m. it received a phone call about a bear in a tree between Ash and Washington streets on Montezuma Avenue.
According to police, the bear was foraging for food and was eating the fruit from the tree.
After authorities were unable to coax the bear out of the tree, it was tranquilized twice, and when the bear fell from its hiding spot it became tangled in the tree.
Police said the Cortez Fire Protection District was called to help get the bear down from the tree.
The older black bear was large and police officers became concerned when a small crowd started to appear.
The wildlife department took it back to the bears habitat and released the animal.
Cortez Fire Chief Jeff Vandevoorde said his department was called to help get the tranquilized bear down from the tree and used its ladder truck to do so.
Firefighters then loaded the male bear in a Parks and Wildlife truck to be transported back to the wild.
Joe Lewandowski, public information officer for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife said bear sightings are not out of the ordinary for the area.
We live in the middle of bear habitat, and while is not a common occurrence, it is not a big surprise, he said, adding they almost always come into cities or towns to look for food.
Lewandowski said this is the time of year where bears are stocking up on calories needed for the hibernation season.
He also said there are things residents can do to lower the risk of bears being in their neighborhoods.
Making sure garbage cans are secure and taking down bird feeders are two things he recommends and added black bears are usually not aggressive but still should not be approached.
He said if a bear is close by or in a backyard, it would be OK to yell at it and make it feel uncomfortable to encourage it to leave.
michaelm@cortezjournal.com
