Local News in Brief : Water Becomes a Cross to Bear, and It Splits

About eight hours after a frightened bear climbed a tall tree in a rural area of Granada Hills, firefighters used a hose to chase it back into the brush Saturday morning, authorities said.

The bear apparently had climbed the tree about midnight after an encounter with residents in the 11800 block of Highwater Road, Los Angeles Police Sgt. Doug Boka said.

The American black bear was a full-grown male weighing about 350 pounds, said Martine Colette, director of the Wildlife Waystation, an animal refuge in Little Tujunga Canyon. Its appearance was rare but not unheard of in the area, she said.

Colette was consulted as officers from the city police, fire and animal regulation departments tried to decide what to do about the bear, Boka said.

The animal’s predicament started when the residents, who were not identified, heard a noise in their front yard, said a neighbor, Richard Coscia.

“They went out to see what the noise was,” Coscia said. “They got just as scared as the bear . . . and ran back into the house.”

“I think something did alert the bear,” Colette said, “and he climbed the tree. . . . Then something else frightened him, and once he climbed up higher, he looked down below him, and there were a lot of people.”

The firefighters’ stream of water, gentle by the time it reached 80 feet and sprayed the bear, made him uncomfortable in the tree, Colette said.

“He just came right down out of there and took off into the boondocks,” Boka said.

“The last we saw was a northbound bear,” Colette said, “and all we could see was his south end.”