Third and Alum streets in Lehighton was all the rage Wednesday afternoon thanks to a visit from a furry friend.

A rather large crowd of pedestrians and motorists converged on the area to catch a glimpse of a black bear, which found comfort up in a tree on the property of the Schaeffer Funeral Home.Resident Chris Glass said he was walking his son up to football practice when he noticed the bear in the tree.As she stood on the sidewalk across the street from the bear, resident Becky Walck said, "it's really scary."Another resident who wished to remain anonymous said he believed the state game warden should be brought in to get the bear down and tranquilize it.Lehighton patrolman Matt Arner said the initial call came in to the Carbon County Communications Center between 3:30 and 4 p.m. and said a bear was in the area of North Eighth Street and that there were several people chasing it.Arner said the Lehighton Police Department then called the Comm Center and advised them to tell people not to chase the bear and to leave it alone.Multiple callers said the bear was in the area of Sixth and Iron streets, and that it was headed toward Third Street, Arner said.Arner said as he came into the area, he saw two people with cellphones saying, "there it is."The bear, Arner noted, had tags in its ears, which meant it's probably a nuisance bear and had previously been trapped by the Pennsylvania Game Commission.Arner said the bear appeared to be at least 2 years old, and estimated it weighed 200-250 pounds.Upon his arrival, Arner said the bear was already climbing the tree at Schaeffer Funeral Home, and Arner requested game commission assistance.However, Arner was told all of their officers were in Blooming Grove as part of the search for Eric Frein, who is suspected of shooting two state troopers Friday night, killing one and injuring another."They had told me as long as the bear is left alone, it will leave the tree," Arner said. "Unfortunately, a large amount of people appeared, and despite being told not to, they continued walking up to the tree."Arner said since he was the only officer on duty at that time and because of the large crowd and dangers posed to them and the stress caused to the bear, he called for the Lehighton fire police to shut down the area of Third and Alum streets."The bear appeared to be stressed due to heavy panting and a look of disorientation," he said. "It's possible that it may have been moving from the Packerton area, possibly to the Mahoning Creek area, probably looking for natural food sources such as berries, nuts, different plants."Arner noted the bear did not show any interest in going through garbage cans.At 7:35 p.m., the bear climbed down and began to cross Alum Street, where it walked to a fenced-in yard. As it turned around, it encountered fire police between its location and the cemetery and climbed up another tree.At that point, Arner said, "We repositioned our personnel prior to him leaving the tree to ensure that the bear would have a free pathway to either the cemetery or the alley."Just before 8 p.m., the bear came back down, he said. At that point, police and fire police maintained their positions to ensure that the bear was able to freely move down the alley.Arner said they watched the bear walk through several yards until it made its way toward the heights area of the borough. As it entered a wood line in the heights area, no further sightings were made, Arner said."Our biggest concern was there were no injuries to the public, and there was no injuries to the bear, to ourselves or to fire police."Arner added, "The unfortunate timing couldn't have been worse, as it was shortly after school had let out, and our biggest concern was for the safety of the children in that area."He said this time of year, a lot of bears search for food, so the encounters between humans and bears may increase."If there happens to be another case where bears come into town, the best thing for parents and kids to do is go inside and respect the bear," he said. "Just let the bears alone, and if they are in your yard or neighborhood, they will eventually leave, and it's best to leave them alone and stay inside along with your children and pets."