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That black bear that went for a swim in a La Cañada Flintridge pool? She’s back

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A black bear that took a dip in a La Cañada Flintridge swimming pool last week was spotted visiting Glendale neighborhoods twice since Friday, officials said.

Game wardens watched the 3-year-old, 200-pound bear snack on a dead deer before the bear climbed up a tree Friday morning near East Chevy Chase Drive and Saint Gregory Road, said Department of Fish and Wildlife Patrol Lt. Marty Wall.

The following night, the bear — which was tagged on May 28 after visiting Pasadena — was seen in Glendale again, this time near the Glendale (2) Freeway.

When game wardens arrived, they tried to tranquilize her so they could return her to her habitat, but the two darts they shot her with didn’t work, something Wall said isn’t unusual.

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“If the drug doesn’t get into the muscle, it won’t take effect,” he said, adding that the tool is used as a last-resort. “Sometimes they’re just way too deep into town and we don’t want to take a chance with pushing them across a freeway or a really busy street.”

At that point, the bear took off running up a hillside neighborhood before she reached a debris basin near the mountains.

“She’s probably in the Verdugo Mountains right now,” Wall said. “That’s where we left her.”

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek

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