A female bear recently lost her necklace but got a pair of earrings to replace it.

Wildlife Conservation Officer Cory Bentzoni, with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, recently received information about a black bear with a bird feeder stuck on its head. People had trail cam photos and video of the sow that has been traveling around Penn Forest Township with a cub.Bentzoni obtained the owners’ permission and set a live bear trap in a backyard that the animal was frequenting.After about a week and catching a few other bears, Bentzoni snared the bear he was hoping to catch.By the time the bear was caught all that was left of the feeder were two rings and some wires around its neck.Tending to the bearThe bear was injected with a dissociative drug through a special syringe that is inserted through holes in the trap. Bentzoni explained that the drug disrupts the brain’s ability to control the body but the bear is not asleep.Once Bentzoni was confident the bear was out, the door on the trap was opened to reveal the bear and her necklace. With her head right at the opening of the trap, Bentzoni was able to use a pair of wire snips to cut and remove the mesh feeder while the bear was still in the trap.Bentzoni was prepared to treat any cuts and scrapes caused by the metal rings or wire mesh, but was surprised when he found her neck in good shape, needing no treatment. He then placed a tag in each ear for research purposes.The mission of the Pennsylvania Game Commission is to “manage Pennsylvania’s wild birds, wild mammals, and their habitats for current and future generations,” according to its website.Last year the commission trapped and tagged more than 700 black bear across the state, most of which were for research purposes. Conservation officers also try to trap bears that have known medical conditions, and they have training and medication to help sick animals.For example, Bentzoni is aware of a few bears around the Penn Forest area with mange. If he can trap them early enough he has medication to treat them. The bears are then transported away from the other mangy bears so they don’t catch it again.Tagging the bearDuring the trap and tag process a wildlife conservation officer will measure the bear’s chest to get an approximate weight and check the bear’s overall health. Sometimes a tooth will be pulled, which gets sent back to a lab for tests to determine age.While checking this bear’s overall health, Bentzoni found and removed two ticks near its right eye. The bear was then given a drug to counteract the first drug. About 30 minutes later the bear staggered off into the nearby woods.Bentzoni said the tags are important for research. Recently while he was processing a bear that was trapped in Penn Forest Township he got a call from a co-worker in Monroe County who had trapped a bear near East Stroudsburg University. By checking the tags they were able to determine that the same bear had been trapped near the same location a year ago. When it was trapped in 2015 it was transported to a State Game Land in Carbon County.Bentzoni said it’s not uncommon for bears to return after being relocated, and that’s why relocating nuisance bears doesn’t always work. Removing the reason the bears are in the area, such as bird feeders or dumpsters, is the best solution. Putting active lime in a dumpster or trash bin can help in masking the smell.One of the biggest misconceptions about the trapping process is that the game commission wants to put the bear down.“We get calls from environmental centers about people calling asking them to not call the Game Commission because they will put the bear down,” he said, “Unfortunately, sometimes putting down the animal is necessary for its own good. But our primary goal is to help the animal any way we can.”