Public Help Requested: Bear Cubs In Pine Mountain Seeking Mom’s Return

By Patric Hedlund
PINE MOUNTAIN-(Sunday, June 8, 3:45 p.m.) Liz Bolden of Los Padres Bear Aware (LPBA) has requested that those traveling in the area of Woodland and Bernina in Pine Mountain be aware that two very young black bear cubs became separated from their mother at about 1 p.m. and are screeching loudly, crying out for her. They were last seen near the corner of Woodland and St. Bernard. They were chased back into the greenbelt by residents on Woodland.

Volunteers are being requested to contact  LPBA, which is establishing a rotating schedule of those willing to help keep the youngsters off the road. Call LPBA at  242-7297/ PAWS if you want to be part of the volunteer vigil rotation.

Bolden says Ann Bryant of the  BEAR League in Northern California told her that keeping the cubs off the road and in the greenbelt will "give the sow a chance to come get them." Bryant said that though the cubs’ cries for the mother are audible, it is likely that the mother’s calls back to them are at a frequency below the range of human hearing."

"Ann says the sow may not come close until the sun goes down, if we can just keep them off the roads, out of the community, keep dogs away and also keep a low profile so as not to scare the sow off, hopefully she will come find them," Bolden said.

This is part of the June 06, 2008 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

Have an opinion on this matter? We'd like to hear from you.