Night Moves: Bear Capture in the Dark

By Jon Rachael, Idaho Department of Fish and Game Wednesday morning, October 3, at about 0230 hours, Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer Bill London got a call about a large bear roaming around inside the tank compound at the National Guard base at Gowen Field. Soon after, it climbed a tree within the compound. The Military Police were hoping the bear issue could be resolved before personnel started showing up for work in the morning. "People need to be working on those tanks at oh-700," said the MPs who had called Fish and Game for help with the bruin. District Conservation Officer London was kind enough to let me sleep until 0307 hours. We planned to meet at 0430 at the main entrance. We waited onsite until the Gowen Field Fire Department showed up to cut the lock to allow us in the compound. The MP determined it to be inadvisable to awaken the Marine gunnery sergeant at such an early hour to request he come over with the key. The bear was difficult to see through the thick branches in the 25-foot-tall Austrian Pine. Flashlights only made the branches appear thicker and more numerous and the bear more difficult to see. It seemed bigger than our average town-bear of late. I loaded up the syringe pole while London counseled the MPs and firefighters on bear catching protocol, and the disposable nature of wildlife managers. Soon I was up the tree with my short straw firmly in one hand, syringe pole in the other, and headlamp lighting the way two or three feet ahead of me as I picked my way up through the branches. When I turned off my headlamp, the bear seemed really close. When I turned it back on it seemed farther away. I wasn't sure I could reach it, especially since I had to maneuver the syringe pole through thick branches. No worries though, for with a huff and a snort and a pop-pop-pop, the bear lunged quite a bit closer rather quickly. I made a mental note that he - I assumed it was a "he" because it seemed much snootier than the cubs and yearlings I've been wooing with my soft seductive bear whispers - seemed to get much larger as he got closer. Anyway, I decided to climb another branch or two higher. Well, I can't quite seem to remember whether I did or not, because suddenly there was quite a clamor and some really loud huffing and branches breaking and woofing and the stench of stale breath in the dark. It was all so distracting for a moment or so - and silly me with nowhere to go. After a moment of patience and regrouping, I decided I was really quite close enough. I lined up and gave the bear a short pinch in his right butt cheek. Seven minutes later he cascaded gently down, sliding slowly from branch to branch, and floated the last five feet to the ground like a down pillow. Then, oh-my! He darn near stood up. I suspected the firemen were strategizing on who among us was the slowest sprinter. A nervous moment and brief excitement passed as London and I exchanged a knowing glance - "Ah, yeah, we forgot to mention, they'll do that sometimes." Whew! Then he fell asleep. He was a two- to three-year-old male, 125 pounds on the scale. Everything went perfectly thanks to cooperation among agencies. We even got the Gowen Field firemen to demonstrate how to properly carry a victim out of a burning building. The MPs helped me push him into his "jail cell" in the back of my truck. He got his freedom somewhere in the mountains of the Boise National Forest later in the day. The morning's excitement marked the 11th bear Fish and Game successfully captured and moved from urban and suburban areas in the Treasure Valley in the past six weeks. Jon Rachael is the regional wildlife manager in the Southwest Region.