Black bear cub with bucket on its һeаd rescued after 3 days
What might have been a straightforward rescue turned into an adventure when they caught up with the bear.
The young black bear had been roaming through Clarion County in western Pennsylvania with what looked like a bucket over his head. According to Krissy Elder, who snapped the photo that Dean and Samantha saw, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was contacted but they told her they could not do anything while the bear was healthy and “mobile.”
Dean, who is an animal rescue volunteer, enlisted help from a few of his friends to help him with the rescue, which took place on Labor Day in 2014. They searched for a few hours for the bear and were about to give up when they saw him on the side of the road.
Dean first tried to wrestle the object off the bear’s head, but it was stuck on too tight and the bear slipped out of his grasp and ran away. The rescuers gave chase and ended up in a giant mud hole. They soon discovered that the “bucket” was actually a rubber air bag normally used to cushion tractor trailers and was fastened tightly around the bear’s neck with a metal ring.
The video is pretty unbelievable and we do not suggest anyone attempting rescues like this—but it is nice to see a happy ending for the curious bear.
The Wildlife and һeгіtаɡe Service of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources said in a Facebook post that a сгowd of onlookers at the resort was giddy to see the cub returned to the nearby woods.
The two rounded up a band of volunteers to assist in the rescue and set off for the woods near where the bear was photographed.
Hornberger and Eigenbrod had been searching for two hours and were about to call it quits for the day, when they came across the Bucket Bear near the highway.
Hornberger approached it and attempted to wrestle off the rubber container, which turned out to be an air bag that likely broke off a tractor trailer.
The bear slipped out of his grasp and led the group on a 20-minute chase through the woods towards ‘the biggest mud hole in the area,’ as Hornberger described it.
Once the group tackled the bear, Shawn Balcita pinned it down with his body while Hornberger cut the metal ring on the cushion with a hacksaw.
Eigenbrod recorded video of the brave rescue on her cellphone.
After Balcita released it, the Bucket Bear dashed back into the woods, freed of its cumbersome bucket.
According to Save the Bucket Bear, a Facebook page set up by Krissy Elder, the Pennsylvania Game Commission was contacted but told her they could not do anything while the bear was healthy and ‘mobile.’
Balcita and Hornberger suffered some scratches from the bear’s claws, but otherwise the group emerged unharmed.