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A California black bear — or perhaps more than one — has been visiting residents of cabins in Bouquet Canyon for the past three weeks, but some of the humans who live there want the four-footed denizens relocated somewhere more remote.
"It's been quite a while since there's been a bear up here," said the Rev. Thomas Davis, who has lived in the Upper Bouquet Canyon area for 15 years.
"It's kind of amusing," Davis said. "But I'm worried for the bears. This is the bears' home."
The area near the Big Oaks Lodge is mostly Angeles National Forest land, but it's peppered with cabins built in the early 1900s that are rented mostly by folks who don't like the crowds of the suburbs.
That's not to say they like black bears crowding them, either.
Davis said he saw the bear Thursday morning.
"I should have known something was up when I noticed something had been pillaging our trash," he said.
He estimated the bear he encountered in his yard at 9 a.m. Thursday weighed 400 to 500 pounds. "It was pretty bold," he said, noting he had seen bears previously only at night.
Mike Macbeane spotted a bear on his property last Friday and agreed with Davis about the boldness, if not the weight, of the creature.
Hugging Macbeane's fireplace, the bear scratched himself on the back, knocked off the cabin's satellite dish and caused some damage to the roof, Macbeane said.
"He was grabbing the cable with his mouth like a panda eats bamboo," Macbeane said, "playing with it, kind of jovial."
"I was worried because there are also power lines and cables," Macbeane said.
The bear eventually sauntered off down the road toward a neighbor's house, Macbeane added estimating its weight at 350 pounds.
When the bear damaged his roof, Macbeane said, he called the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff's Station and the Department of Fish and Game.
Fish and Game officials said they would relocate the bear 20 miles away if it became a danger to people, but they would not relocate unless danger was threatened because the area is the bear's home, Macbeane said.
Multiple calls from The Signal to Fish and Game were not returned Thursday.
Davis and other residents are pushing for relocation as a preventive measure.
"I think the bear ought to be relocated further out," Davis said. "I don't want anyone to get hurt, and I don't want the bears to get hurt."
"It's just a matter of time before there's a confrontation between people and the bears," resident Noel Borensztejn said.
But Frank Hoffman, recreation services supervisor for Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation at Placerita Canyon Nature Center, urged residents to take some precautions to peacefully co-exist with the bear.
He advised residents to secure their trash cans, clear all trash and pet food from the yard and not feed the bears.
"It's illegal to feed the bears," Hoffman said. "Leave them alone. Make loud noises to scare them out of the area."
The only native bears left in California are black bears, he said, adding: "They come in different-color faces, but they are all the black bear."


text:
Rizzo misses series opener due to illness
By Joey Nowak / MLB.com
CHICAGO -- Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo was held out of the lineup on Monday because of illness, but manager Dale Sveum said he's hopeful the day and a half off will be enough time for the slugger to recuperate.
"He was pretty sick last night and pretty weak," Sveum said. "Migraine headache and the whole thing. Hopefully it all passes today and he's ready to go tomorrow for a night game."
Rizzo has appeared in 122 of the Cubs' 123 games this season, all but one as a starter (the other as a pinch-hitter). Each game has been at first base, and he's hit primarily from the No. 3 spot.
He's hitting .230 with a career-high 18 homers and 65 RBIs.
Catcher Dioner Navarro was batting third on Monday, and Cody Ransom was at first base.
Hoyer: Castro among most talented 'when he's right'
CHICAGO -- Though shortstop Starlin Castro has often received the brunt of the negative attention when it comes to the Cubs' miscues, his manager and general manager both cautioned Tuesday against placing too much emphasis on one single player for the team's struggles.
The two-time All-Star shortstop had a brain cramp on a fifth-inning popup in the Saturday afternoon loss to the Cardinals that allowed a run to score. Castro caught a deep infield fly from Matt Carpenter in left, but seemed unaware of Jon Jay on third base, who tagged and scored. Manager Dale Sveum benched Castro after the play.
"Our situation is where every day is an evaluation here to see where we're going to be in the future and where that particular player or all 25 players are going to line up in the situation next year," Sveum said.
General manager Jed Hoyer said Castro is one of the team's best players and -- with a seven-year, $60 million contract extension last year -- a major building block for the future. Because of that, Hoyer said, Castro sometimes receives a bit of "undue focus" on his struggles.
"I don't look at it like people trying to isolate him," Hoyer said. "I do think he made a really bad play the other day, he's had a few of those, and he has to stop doing that. I don't think anyone is forgiving that. But I think the way we look at it, he's having a down year. There's no reason in the world to think he can't get back to the way he played as a 21-year-old."
Castro hit. 300 in his rookie season in 2010, then .307 the following year. He's batting just .244 this season with an on-base percentage 44 points below his career average.
"As a staff, we have to get to the bottom of why he hasn't had as good a year, how we can get him better, and isolating him and focusing on him as a negative, that doesn't help that," Hoyer said. "This is a guy that, when he's right, is one of the more talented young players in the game."
Joey Nowak is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @joeynowak. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

subset: commoncrawl