‘Chill’ bear tranquilized after journey into Oregon Hill

When Braden Cmeyla woke up to a small black bear pacing around the back porch of his Oregon Hill home, he said he knew exactly what he needed to do: Get a promotional picture for a cookout he and his bandmates are throwing Saturday.

Mission accomplished, he said, showing off a close-up shot of the bear looking up into his kitchen window.

“It looks fantastic,” he said. “I wrote, ‘Be there or eaten by bear.’”

A team of VCU police, state wildlife officials and city animal control officers spent most of Thursday morning containing the animal in Cmeyla’s back yard on Pine Street while waiting for a state animal biologist to arrive with tranquilizers. 

After four hours of blowing whistles, clapping and shaking rakes at it whenever it started to look like it might wander off, officers hit the animal with a tranquilizer dart, loaded it into a bear trap and drove it away just before 11:30 a.m. 

Wildlife officials on the scene estimated the bear was about a year and a half old and weighed roughly 100 pounds.

Each spring, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, young male bears get kicked out of their dens by their mothers and go out on their own looking for their own territory.

“It’s no longer just a rural thing. Here in Richmond, we love our James River Park System,” said DWR spokesperson Shelby Crouch. “I’m a city resident. Love it. And you know what else loves it? Wildlife loves it.”

Crouch stressed that wild animals are not pets no matter how non-threatening they might seem. People who encounter bears, she said, should steer clear and never attempt to feed them.

It wasn’t fully clear what route the bear took to get to Oregon Hill. What he was looking for, Crouch said, was a good habitat and food.

“What do we have in an urban area? We have trash cans. VCU students are moving out right now,” Crouch said. “So we have all kinds of stuff lingering around in the area that would cause him to say ‘Maybe this might be a good spot.’”

The tranquilization went smoothly, wildlife officials said, with the sedative taking effect after about a minute.

“He’ll start waking up in a few hours. This afternoon the biologist will give him some water and start flushing his system,” said Lt. Joshua Thomas with DWR’s conservation police.

After a health check-up, wildlife officials said, the bear will be released at an undisclosed Wildlife Management Area nearby, close enough that he won’t feel too far from home.

Reports of bear sightings began rolling in last night, with one Reddit user sharing a video of a bear roaming the Maymont neighborhood. Sightings began in Oregon Hill early this morning. 

“The bear was pretty chill,” said Romain Lheritier, a Fan resident who spotted the animal near the intersections of South Laurel and Albemarle streets while running a little after 7 a.m. “It’s difficult to think they are dangerous because they look so fluffy and nice.”

Laura Thompson heard a “thump” outside and initially thought it was her cat, Cucumber.

“And then I was like, well that sounds too heavy to be Cucumber,” Thompson said. “I just kind of dismissed it. Then we saw a fire truck pull up.”

Thompson’s neighbor, Lydie Blundon, said they nicknamed the bear Zucchini.

“Zucchinis are often confused with cucumbers,” Blundon said. “So, Zuke and Cuke.”

The bear spent most of the morning in the back yard of the Pine Street home where Cmeyla and his roommates were excited to have gotten photos of the animal they could use to promote their upcoming cookout. The group, who play in an indie band called Celler Dwellers, called the bear extremely cute.

In a video the group took from their kitchen window, they express amazement that “it’s just chilling.” 

“I’m happy that it appreciates the porch,” one housemate says. 

“He’s chilling on the porch, and that’s what you can do at our cookout on Saturday,” another says.

Nearby, Pine Street Baptist Church was offering a meal for the homeless as the standoff unfolded.

The church's pastor, Philip Turner, said he’s seen plenty of deer and possums in the neighborhood. But the bear, who spent some time behind the church’s generator, was a first.

“It’s just not what you expect to see,” Turner said. “It’s more laughter and excitement. Like kids at a zoo. Nobody’s really been fearful.”

Church patron El Sharrieff said he wasn’t that bothered by the young bear, he was worried about “the mama.”

“I like animals too,” Sharrieff said. “I just don’t like animals biting me in the ass.”

The pastor jokingly asked him if he wanted to invite the bear in for breakfast.

“I didn’t want to BE the breakfast,” Sharrieff said.

Contact Reporter Ned Oliver at noliver@richmonder.org

Contact Reporter Graham Moomaw at gmoomaw@richmonder.org