Last cub in tree joins mother, 2 cubs in a break for freedom

CARIBOU – While it looked for half the day Tuesday as if one cub would be left behind to spend the rest of its days in captivity, a mother bear and her three babies may have their happy ending after hiding out for two days in the treetops of a residential neighborhood.

The last member of the foraging family escaped the city and the crowds at about 1:30 p.m. and may even be reunited with its mother and two siblings, Sgt. Dan Menard of the Maine Warden Service said Tuesday afternoon.

The black bears had languished in the trees since early Sunday morning, when they were foraging at a bird feeder in a Caribou neighborhood and something spooked them. Crowds hoping for a glimpse or a picture of the wild animals on Sunday and Monday kept the bears too nervous to make a break from their lofty haven.

When officials arrived Tuesday morning to check out the pine tree on Reservoir Street where the bears had been roosting, they discovered that the mother bear had left with two of her cubs, but that the third baby bruin was still tree-bound.

“The sow and two of her cubs were nowhere to be found,” Menard said.

Wildlife officials were unsure whether the mother would come back for her cub considering how traumatic the previous few days had been for the animals, but they were preparing for the worst. A biologist with the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife set out a fairly large live animal trap, though officials were hoping the cub would make a break for its mother.

Menard explained that if the bear were trapped, it would have to be rehabilitated, “which means it will spend the rest of its life in a cage.”

“It will basically sentence that animal to a life in a pen,” he said.

Shortly after the biologist set out the trap, though, the cub inched down the tree, skirted the contraption, and took off in the direction of the airport.

At about the same time, the Caribou Police Department received a report that a vehicle had almost hit a sow bear and two cubs near the airport.

“Theoretically, they could all be together now,” Menard said.

Even if they aren’t, Menard said this is the best-case scenario for the cub – it gets to return to the wild and it has learned its lesson.

“Oh, I think those bears will stay away from bird feeders from now on,” Menard said.

The Maine Warden Service passed along a reminder for the public to leave wild animals alone. If they have contact with humans, animals will have to be rehabilitated. Officials also urge residents not to leave bird food, garbage or barbecue grills out at night because they may attract wild animals and encourage them to forage in residential areas. For more information, contact the Maine Warden Service at 435-3231.