Wayward Bruin Heads Home to the Wild : Upper Ojai: Bear is returned to Los Padres National Forest after being tranquilized following foray into inhabited area.

Officials returned a wayward bear to the wild Wednesday after the furry 250-pounder wandered into an Upper Ojai community shortly after dawn, spooking dogs and alarming residents.

“He scared me,” said Upper Ojai resident Frances Felkins, 58, who spotted the California black bear from her dining room about 5:30 a.m. “You don’t expect to look out your window and see a bear.”

But Morgan Wehtje, a wildlife biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, said it’s surprising that more bears aren’t seen in communities that border forested areas. The vegetation, avocado trees and trash cans found in the Upper Ojai are tantalizing to any bear with an appetite, Wehtje said.

“Yogi Bear is a cartoon character, but it’s true that the thought of picnic baskets and such lead bears to stray,” she said.

Felkins’ dog, Heidi, was one of the first to sound the alarm. Felkins, who lives on Topa Lane about a mile from Los Padres National Forest, was fixing a cup of coffee when she heard Heidi’s barks. She peered outside in time to see the male bear lumber across a neighbor’s yard and climb a redwood tree.

“I woke my son up to make sure I wasn’t seeing things,” Felkins said, pointing to the 30-foot tree’s crest. “It happened so fast. By the time my son came out, he was already at the top of the tree.”

Felkins notified the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department about the drop-in visitor and by 8 a.m., sheriff deputies, fish and game officials and Upper Ojai residents had collected under the tree.

Wehtje ruled out rousting the bear with a water hose, since he might have become belligerent.

Instead, Wehtje picked up her rifle, climbed atop a tool shed and fired four tranquilizer darts at the bear, which she estimated was 8 years old. About 10 minutes later, the animal--drugged with a combination of a tranquilizing agent and anesthetic--crashed to the earth, breaking branches as he fell.

As the morning unfolded, Upper Ojai residents proved themselves to be true bear lovers.

“I was afraid [the bear] was going to get hurt, but the tree branches really broke his fall,” said Lee Brooks, 62, who gave fish and game officials permission to tear up part of his back-yard fence to evacuate the bear. “I would have just hated to see him get killed.”

Wehtje offered additional reasons for the residents’ bonhomie.

“The branches have now been pruned for the owners,” Wehtje said.

Although fish and game officials supervised the bear’s 1 1/2-mile repatriation to Sisar Canyon in Los Padres, residents participated in the effort.

Retired truck driver John Sedlak, 68, volunteered to give the bear a ride home in the loader of his backhoe tractor.

“I just scooped him up,” Sedlak said as he chugged down dusty Sisar Road after dropping the bear off at the edge of Sisar Creek. “Everybody helps everybody around here. It’s a lot easier driving him than trying to drag him up the hill.”

All told, the bear’s visit caused a mild sensation in this normally quiet patch of homes above the Ojai Valley.

Nordhoff High School student Mary Wright, 16, said she planned to give a report on the day’s events to her biology class for extra credit.

“I’ve heard about people seeing tracks, but I haven’t seen one in the wild like this,” Mary said as she stood about 50 feet from the snoozing bear. “My mom let me take half a day off from school. She says something as exciting as this doesn’t happen very often.”

About 1 p.m., the bear began to awake from his nap. Lying on his side on a blue tarp near the rushing creek, the bear scratched his muzzle. After several failed attempts, he stood on wobbly legs and began to stagger toward the creek and freedom.

“He’s got a hangover,” said Wehtje, describing the effect of the tranquilizer. “He’s saying to himself, ‘I don’t feel so good. I’ve got a headache.’ ”