Bear With Its Head In a Jar

The News Sentinel reported this week that officers from Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency sedated a bear in Newport and relocated it to the Cherokee National Forest. While it is not unusual for bears to come into town looking for food, i.e. garbage, to eat, this story was unusual in that the poor bear had been roving around Cocke County for three weeks with a plastic jar stuck on its head. The poor creature was not able to eat during that time, and weighed only 115 pounds, rather than 200, when captured. The story is yet another example of why houses in the mountains should have bear-proof garbage cans.