Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Playful Bear Is Moved

By JOHN MILLER

It was an unusual situation.

An American black bear was seen cavorting with mules and horses in the Gurdon area, apparently having a good time with the livestock.

The bear, weighing about 120 pounds, was spotted at the Raymond Roy farm near Gurdon playing with his livestock.

The bear showed no fear of the other animals, nor of man, for the matter.

Gurdon police officer Frank Plasek, who observed the cavorting, said the animals appeared to be playing chase with one another, which is a rarity between bear and livestock.

He said the bear would chase the mule, with the mule turning around and chasing after the bear, but neither meant the other any harm. It was just a game for them.

These animals played with one another throughout the day of Oct. 25.

The games continued, with man getting into the act, until Halloween, when the bear was darted by members of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission. Once darted, the bear was taken to a remote part of Clark County and released.

Bill Vanscoy, a wildlife officer with the AG&FC, was on hand at the time the bear was darted. He said it took several shots before the animal went down and could be moved. He added, when the bear woke up, it enjoyed a meal of sardines and showed no ill effects from the tranquilizer.

While Vanscoy didn't get to see the game of chase between the mule and bear, he did say the bear had already been tagged with a wildlife tag in its ear.

The tag, he said, leads the AG&FC to believe this bear was possibly one of two cubs captured in Hot Spring County after their mother had been killed.

Officials with the Clark County Sheriff's Office concur with this opinion, saying this bear obviously had been raised around livestock and was not afraid of man.

Bears, Vanscoy said, are primarily vegetarian and mostly fear man. "If you leave the alone," he said, "they'll go back into the woods. Most of the time they won't hurt people."

While the bear was first spotted playing on Oct. 25, it took a while before wildlife officers were able to tranquilize it for relocation.

The bear avoided the first trap set for it on Oct. 25, and was seen the next day about five miles further south.

It made another appearance on Oct. 27 near the original site, the Roy farm, where it resumed its game of chase with the mule.

Another trap was set for the bear, but it was, again, unsuccessful. The bear returned on Oct. 30 to the same place, escaping into the woods and avoiding wildlife officers yet again.

But its luck ran out on Halloween as the bear appeared at the Gene Standridge home off Red Springs Road. This time, the wildlife officers were ready and shot the bear with several tranquilizing darts so they could relocate it.

There are several bear in Clark County, but it is rare for them to be seen, and even more rare for one to play with livestock.

Bear attacks are rare, but do occur. There is only one confirmed bear attack in the state of Arkansas.

It occurred several years ago in the Ozark National Forest when a bear attacked a camper in his tent, biting the man on his shoulder and upper arm.