Bears On Broadway

This morning, residents of Eureka found themselves in unusual traffic on Broadway, southbound 101. 

Cars moved at a slow pace, giving residents a good view of the line of police cars and firetruck right outside of the Pierson’s Garden Center.

The spectacle was hard to make sense of at first, with officials cutting off immediate access to the area, causing confusion for the commuters.

As one of those commuters myself, I had the impression it had to be some kind of animal.

Although I was correct, the result still surprised me; a young bear cub had scrambled up the tree after getting spooked by traffic around 8:30 AM this morning, with its mother not far behind.

A mother bear and her cub had been spotted earlier in Southern Eureka by some Facebook users who had posted a local warning to residents.

Fish and Wildlife were concerned for the bear’s safety in such a busy area.

It took several hours for law enforcement and Humboldt Bay Fire Department to retrieve the bears from the tree, as they had to slowly cut away branches in order to reach them. 

Eureka officials say they were able to safely tranquilize the animals, starting with the mother first. After waiting for about fifteen minutes for the sedative to take effect, they were able to remove them from the tree without further incident.

Mother and baby bear were then loaded up into a truck for transportation out of the area.

Fish and wildlife will be relocating the mother and cub into an unspecified state park about an hour away, hoping to keep them far from busy roads. 

This has left the tree looking more sparse than before – but unless you have a keen eye, you can barely notice a difference. 

[Photos by Talia Flores ]