Trooper Thomas Owens of the Carroll Police Department in New Hampshire responded to a complaint of a black bear family attempting to cross a road, according to the NH State Police. Rather of moving rapidly, the mom bear and her four cubs continued traveling back and forth.
When Trooper Owens stopped to assist, he saw the mom apparently pacing in the road, and it wasn’t long before he realized why. The Town of Carroll Police Department was aware of this bear family.
This is the mother that had five cubs out in Bretton Woods, the department revealed on Facebook, adding that they had to pick up one of her pups the day before. The runt cub had been unwell and feeble, unable to keep up with its mother and siblings.
The Town of Carroll Police Department said in a statement that a bear with five cubs was unusual since usually bears only have two or three babies at a time. It’s quite unusual. This is just the second time they’ve heard of it in New Hampshire, the agency noted.
When the mom attempted to cross the road with her four surviving cubs, at least one of her infants appeared to be reluctant to move. The mother was pacing back and forth, attempting to entice the youngster to accompany her. She definitely wanted all four of her cubs to be with her, however one was unwell and too weak to walk to keep up with her and its siblings.
Trooper Thomas Owens felt compelled to assist. They had to take one bear cub in for Fish and Game to be rehabilitated after performing some bear traffic control, the agency revealed. This leaves her with three more extremely healthy cubs to concentrate on and care for. When the other two are strong enough, they will be rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
Trooper Owens stood guard for a while, until the mom made the agonizing choice to abandon the ailing cub and proceed on her trek with the healthy three. The officer was then able to scoop up the weak one so that it could get the assistance it required, according to the agency.
In short, it is a highly delicate operation that includes diverting mom, fleeing quickly with a crying bear cub, and hoping one gets it back into the cruiser in time, said the department, jokingly. They did, however, issue a strong warning to the public beforehand.
Never pick up or touch wild animals, the agency said. This was done with the permission of Fish and Game. If anybody encounters a wildlife problem, please contact the local police or Fish and Game for assistance!
Many worried people didn’t understand why two of the five babies were sick. They were the ‘runts’ of the group, the department explained, 5 cubs is very rare for a bear to have, and it is an even greater issue attempting to provide for them all. It is just way too much for this poor mom bear trying to take care of them all.
The cubs were stated to be doing fine, growing stronger by the day while in wildlife rehab. Furthermore, both mom and the other three cubs have been observed many more times, and they are also doing wonderfully, the department said.
Jane Langmaid was in a vehicle that had to stop for the bear family as they tried to cross the road. She was able to video the bear family and Trooper Thomas Owens performing his duty by zooming in from her automobile.
Jane added that the event happened in a section of the White Mountain National Forest, which has about 800,000 acres of wilderness. She went on to say that the video demonstrates the issue as well as the officer’s wonderful love for the bear family and their care, and she praised Trooper Owens for doing a very fantastic and excellent job!
It was unquestionably a job well done. Both cubs were given a fighting chance in life, and rehabilitation attempts were successful. In a subsequent response, the department said that both cubs were raised back up to full strength before being released. I don’t know about you, but it feels great to know it had a happy ending.
