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Lifer
A black bear camped out under the porch of a home where four children live - and near where 20 kids wait for the school bus - will be removed by state wildlife officers, officials said Monday.
Residents of Chestnuthill Township had suspected for several days that a bear was in their midst after they saw their trash cans tampered with. But it wasn't until two children happened upon the bear on Sunday that its exact whereabouts became clear.
Pedro Sainvil owns the home where the 600- to 700-pound male bear seems to have settled in for hibernation.
On Sunday, Sainvil sent his two children, ages 8 and 9, outside to play in the snow.
"After 15 or 20 minutes, they came back screaming, 'Dad, Dad! There's a bear under the house!'" Sainvil said.
State Game Commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said the matter would be handled by wildlife conservation officer Pete Sussenbach, who has been in contact with Sainvil and hoped to respond as early as Tuesday.
Sussenbach needs two more people to help him tranquilize the bear, safely remove it from underneath the porch and take it to a den in one of the state's game lands.
"This is a situation that's not uncommon in the Northeast and especially the Poconos area," said Feaser. "Obviously, the fact that this is across from a school bus stop heightens the concern."
Tony Pierri, director of transportation for the Pleasant Valley School District, said the bus stop will be moved to another part of the road until the bear is removed.
Feaser said people should bear-proof their homes by blocking crawl spaces and other small spaces that might entice bears during denning season. The space under the Sainvil's porch is open.
Sainvil was most concerned for his family: his wife, their two elementary school-age children and 5-month-old twins, as well as his mother, who has not left the house since Monday.
"It's very scary," said Rose Marie Louis-Jacques, Sainvil's mother. "I'm just praying that he'll take off. It's like a bomb under the house." http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/ap/2005/12/05/ap2371292.html
