Suburban bear climbs tree in the yard of NC home. It won’t come down, video shows
Black bears are not an uncommon sight in the mountains of North Carolina.
Their presence, however, is a little unusual in suburban Charlotte.
That’s why fire and rescue officials were surprised to report a black bear camped out in a tree in the front yard of a home in Mooresville — about 30 minutes north of Charlotte — on Thursday, according to a Facebook post.
“Believe it or not a bear in a tree in town,” Mooresville Fire & Rescue captioned the photo.
Wildlife and animal control were on the scene, according to the post. Mooresville Police Department was also made aware of the incident.
“The Town of Mooresville is aware there is a bear in the area, and police and fire are already on scene, as well as wildlife professionals,” police said on Facebook. “If you come upon the area where the bear is, please for your own safety, stay away and do not stop near the scene, as the situation is being handled.”
Mooresville Police Department said they won’t disclose the location of the tree bear to keep people away.
Video shot by bystanders shows the bear pacing in the upper branches of a large tree, which appears to be a Chinaberry. The tree sits steps away from a white house with blue shutters, with fire and rescue officials standing nearby. A wildlife officer told one bystander the bear was potentially hit by a car around 3 a.m., and a neighbor reported hearing a thump in the road and a dog bark around the same time.
It was not immediately clear Thursday what condition the bear is in or how it will be brought down.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 2:45 PM with the headline "Suburban bear climbs tree in the yard of NC home. It won’t come down, video shows."
