By MARY ANN THOMAS

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

PITTSBURGH (TNS) — ‘Tis the season when black bears wander into places they shouldn’t be — like the nursing home in White Township, Indiana County one made its way inside this week.

No one was injured and the young yearling male bear, weighing 118 pounds, was trapped by the Pennsylvania Game Commission and released in the State Game Lands in Cambria County, said Lt. Andy Harvey, information and education supervisor and a state warden with the Game Commission’s Southwest Region Office.

Nursing home workers at St. Andrew’s Village were able to lure the bear with crispy treats and used a walker to corral the bear out of the building.

Located near a wooded area and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the rural facility offers independent living, personal care and skilled nursing for about 150 residents, said Lynne Truswell, executive director of St. Andrew’s Village.

Black bears like garbage and sweets While there’s a healthy black bear population in Indiana County, they have not been reported on the nursing home campus before — although there have been reports of bears in the area before, she said.

The young bruin broke through a nursing home window on Tuesday evening shortly after 11 p.m., according to a statement from the facility.

There were staff reports of one resident offering her cake to the bear, Truswell said in an email. ‘But the staff said, ‘Please do not.” The young bear hopped onto two residents’ beds before trying to claw his way out of a window, Ms. Truswell said.

The whole incident took less than 15 minutes, she said.

‘We are incredibly proud of the team’s quick thinking and dedication to ensuring the safety of everyone in the community,’ St. Andrew’s officials said in a statement.

Lt. Harvey said that a bear entering a building or a residence is extremely uncommon in Pennsylvania.

After the bear break-in, a game warden searched the premises and was first unable to find it. He set a trap with donuts and pastries on the nursing home’s grounds and caught the bear on Thursday.

After tranquilizing the animal, the warden weighed and conducted a check-up. The young male did not sustain cuts and was healthy, Lt. Harvey said.

Why do black bears show up at homes? The Game Commission cannot say definitively why the bear entered the nursing home.

Lt. Harvey guesses that residents had outside bird feeders, maybe a suction- cup feeder attracted the animal.

‘We can safely presume it was looking for food,’ he said. Bird feeders, garbage and lingering odors from recent grilling can attract unwanted visitors.

‘Male bears are only concerned about two things — mating and food,’ Lt. Harvey said.

After a year and a half, mother bears push their young out of their territory to prepare to mate, which they do every two years.

‘Yearlings are like teenagers and they are now on their own for the first time in their life,’ he said.

These young bears are out looking for their own territories and they don’t have a mom finding them meals, he said.

‘They will look for the easiest meals — garbage,’ he said.

Typically, the Game Commission fields reports of yearling bears in June and July.

Ammonia-laced water balloon and other tips The agency has received nuisance bear calls in Allegheny County; three bears were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the county so far this year, according to Lt. Harvey.

The Game Commission does not want to stoke fear in the public, but rather wants them to deter bears from visiting homes.

Bears that naturally move through an area won’t linger if people remove food sources such as garbage, bird feeders and pet food from the outdoors.

‘People don’t need to stop feeding birds; just be cautious. If you hear about bear sightings or there are signs of a bear in the area, take down bird feeders for a couple of weeks,’ he said.

Don’t just take them in at night, as seeds fall on the ground.

If the public encounters a bear on their property, they should yell and make themselves appear larger and get into their homes. If a bear enters a building and people cannot exist, they should close inside doors and leave an exit open for the bear to leave.

The agency tries to teach people how to live with bears. They only set traps for nuisance beers, not necessarily for ones passing through.

Lt. Harvey offered a trick for a returning bear: Fill a water balloon with ammonia, apply peanut butter to the outside and lay it on the ground where the bear has been feeding.

‘When the bear returns, it will bite the balloon and get ammonia in its mouth, which will overwhelm their senses. It won’t harm the animal, but will be a great deterrent.’

Residents who want to report nuisance bears should call 911.