The State : Bears Treed by Scary People

A group of people turned the tables on a mother black bear and her two cubs by treeing the frightened animals, wildlife officials in the Lake Tahoe area said. Cheryl Milham of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care said the bears had climbed the tree and apparently were too afraid to come down, especially after a crowd of onlookers gathered. An El Dorado County sheriff’s deputy came to the bears’ rescue about a half an hour later by shooing the people away, she said. The bears came down peacefully and scampered back into the forest. People living, hiking, camping or traveling in the Sierra Nevada should be watchful of bears, because more of them are coming out in search of food and water because of the drought, Milham said. She said people should avoid feeding bears or trying to approach them.