A bear that was spotted several times in Philadelphia and Montgomery County over the past few days was captured Wednesday night.
The 150-pound, 1 1/2-year-old male black bear was spotted eating in the yard of a home on the 900 block of Meetinghouse Road in Abington Township around 7:30 p.m.
The homeowner, Bryan Federici, says his wife looked out their kitchen window and saw the bear eating trash from their trash can. Federici and his wife then grabbed their four children and called 911.
"Thank God my kids weren't playing in the yard when he was out," Federici said. "I made sure they stayed inside, called 911 and we basically just sat there and watched him eat for 20 minutes."
Black bear spotted in Abington Twp enjoying an evening snack. PA Game Commission hoping to find him better home! pic.twitter.com/MLOpCvVXfG — Kelley Warner (@APDKelleyWarner) May 15, 2014
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Officials arrived at the home and set up a perimeter. The animal was later tranquilized after it climbed up a tree. Officials say the animal fell asleep on the tree and remained perched there until he fell after several hours.
Officers were able to safely removed the bear. Wildlife officials say they plan on evaluating the animal before tagging it and transporting it to upstate Pennsylvania game lands.
The bear was already spotted several times on Pine Road and Shady Lane on Tuesday. One witness was Foose Tahiraj, the owner of a Philadelphia deli.
Tahiraj says he was delivering two hoagie trays at the intersection of Pine Road and Shady Lane when he spotted the bear in a wooded area about 75 yards away.
“I just took the photo to show my boys that I ran into a bear today,” Tahiraj said. “It looked cute. It looked nice. It didn’t look mean.”
