Black bear on the move in downtown Hickory

HICKORY, N.C. — A black bear was on the move Wednesday in downtown Hickory.

It was first spotted along Highway 321 and then went down 2nd Avenue into the downtown area.

"A bear, I was very surprised,” Ruben Cazares said.

About an hour after Channel 9 arrived, the black bear was on the move, climbing out of a tree and trying to find a way out of the area.

The bear spent a couple of hours in a tree near the Catawba County ABC store on 1st Avenue Southwest before it came down and walked around the ABC parking lot.

"We have a diverse customer clientele, but not this,” said Les Carpenter, an employee at the ABC Store.

Wildlife officers said they’re trying to get the bear back up into the tree for its own safety. They’re asking residents to keep their distance.

Wildlife officers believe the bear is a little over a year old and weighs about 80 pounds. They said that most likely his mother forced him out on his own this spring after new cubs arrived.

"He's come down here in search of food,” said Matthew Lee, of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. “He's got some human contact. He's more scared of us then we are of him."

Police helped keep people back as the bear roamed around a parking lot and then was guided by wildlife officers back into the woods where it climbed two other trees.

"I was freaked out, darting over there like, is it going to hurt me?" Faryn Salazar asked.

Because of concerns about traffic, state biologists had hoped to keep the bear in the tree until after dark, but when it came out a third time, they, along with police, stopped traffic as it headed right toward police headquarters.

"It's pretty wild. Look out for the mama bear,” Sandy Ingle said.

At one point, the bear passed by the front doors of the police department, but then it went around the building and into some woods along 4th Street SW.

"One said that is a bear,” Brian White said. “Pretty amazing to see a bear in downtown Hickory."

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