Franz the Bear courtesy Terence Faircloth

The Park City bear spotted wandering the streets near my home in Jeremy Ranch nearly three weeks ago has finally been captured. Bear sightings in Summit County aren’t unusual but because this particular bear liked to move around, the Division of Natural Resources had a hard time trapping him. They thought he would just continue to travel south and out of harm’s way.

But Monday, more phone calls came in about the bear. With the help of hounds, they tranquilized the bear and removed him from the Pinebrook area. Pooh was transported a safe distance from Park City but still in the same DWR Wildlife Management Units. “We release them as far away as we can get them (within the unit). We ear tag them, (and) we put a little bit of spray paint on them … so we know what bear it is,” Division of Wildlife Resources urban wildlife biologist Steve Gray said.

“The biggest thing we stress is that people put out their trash the morning of trash day, not the night before,” Gray said. “Especially in areas like Park City.”