Bear With Tattoo, 'Rap Sheet' Captured

Birdseed Trap Ends His Wandering Days

A young black bear that caused a sensation eight months ago after making a rare appearance on Maryland's Eastern Shore was captured Wednesday after making a return trip to the area, officials said yesterday.

The bear was caught in the back yard of a residence just outside downtown Centreville when he crawled into a trap baited with birdseed, according to Paul Peditto, director of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Wildlife and Heritage Service. The bear, a male, was tranquilized, tagged and transported to a new home in Washington County.

The young bear's appearance last fall caused a stir because a black bear had not been seen on the Eastern Shore since Colonial times, Peditto said.

The bear first turned up in September in the Fairlee area of Kent County. A few days later, he was spotted farther south in Queen Anne's County, wandering in the parking lot of the Acme store in downtown Centreville, Peditto said. Locals were so thrilled by the rare sighting that they crowded to snap pictures of him.

Because of his initial travel pattern, wildlife officials believed that the bear had come to Maryland from Pennsylvania. They suspected he would find his way home on his own, so they decided not to capture and relocate him, Peditto said.

But the 250-pound bear, believed to be between 2 and 3 years old, had other plans. He turned up this week in Centreville -- hungry. After he was spotted, officials set up traps baited with doughnuts and birdseed in the back yard of a home he was frequenting. On Wednesday night, he took the bait. "He avoided the doughnuts and went for the birdseed," Peditto said.

Once the bear was trapped, officials discovered that he isn't from Pennsylvania after all. He's from New Jersey. And it turned out that he had been busted before and was tattooed by environmental officials there.

"They had a little rap sheet on him," Peditto said. "There was no bad behavior, but he was in downtown Trenton at one point, and they decided they'd move him to a more appropriate habitat."

Peditto said they suspect that the bear, now 100 pounds heavier than in his Jersey days, might have had a run-ins with other bears after New Jersey officials moved him elsewhere in the state. Unhappy with his circumstances, he probably decided to head south along the Delaware River corridor, Peditto said.

"He avoided the tolls," he said.

Based on other sightings, officials think the bear left Queen Anne's County in the fall and wintered in Talbot County. Officials are hoping that now that he's been relocated again, his traveling days are over.

"He's in a place that's a good bear habitat, with high-quality bear food and where other bears may enjoy his company," Peditto said. "He's got all the things a bear would want."