Young Bear Found Napping on Lawn

A resident found a young, 150-pound black bear asleep in her frontyard Sunday morning, authorities said.

Sheriff’s deputies and state Department of Fish and Game officials caught the bear and released it in the Angeles National Forest a few miles away, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Graham of the Palmdale station.

The woman walked out the front door of her home at 17th Street West and Avenue 8 about 8:30 Sunday morning and found the sleeping bear, which is no more than 3 years old, Graham said.

The woman called deputies, who arrived to see the bear calmly get up and jump over a fence before falling back asleep in a neighbor’s yard, Graham said.

Officials tranquilized the bear before returning him about 40 minutes later to the hills where they think it came from, Graham said.

Officials said they usually see a surge of bears leaving the hills and making their way to nearby towns this time of year. About two weeks ago a larger black bear scared a group of boys playing in a Castaic park, then wandered through several backyards before authorities chased it into the hills.

Officials said the bears are dangerous, and people should stay away and call authorities immediately if they spot one.

“We just hope he won’t come back,” Graham said.