Bear climbs tree in Lancaster Co. yard

KERSHAW, S.C. — Carter Baytes' family watched Friday as a black bear broke the fence and left the yard.

"Put his paw on the fence and ripped it down and ran," Baytes said.

The bear ran into a wooded area nearby. The bear sightings started earlier in the day Friday.

"I looked out my kitchen window and it was a big black bear in our back yard," said Baytes.

By then, his mom had already walked outside and came almost face to face with the bear. She quietly went back inside and called 911.

"I think he was probably moving in the night and when the sun came up I think he was in the town of Kershaw and just didn't know what to do," said 1st Sgt. Shean Coates with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

By the time he arrived at the scene, the bear had moved to a yard next door, and up.

"I looked up in the tree and there was a bear there," said Pat Hegler, who works nearby. "He looked like he didn't know where he needed to be."

Coates said that in this situation a state biologist typically sedates the bear and moves it to a more safe location. Before that could happen, the bear made his way down, back across the Baytes' yard and into the woods.

Coates said the bear was not acting aggressively. He was likely trying to escape the heat and the people. When both are gone, he expects the bear will move along, on his own.

"Let him go. He's not going to bother you. He's not an aggressive animal, he just wants to find a way to get away from us as much as we want him to get away," said Coates.

If residents see the bear, Coates says they can call the Lancaster County Sheriffs non-emergency number or the Wildlife number (1-800-922-5431). They want to know which direction the bear is moving.

Officials are urging people to stay away from the area where the bear was last seen, even if they are curious. They said the bear will not leave if there are people around.

WSOC