By McKenna MIDDLETON
Nicknamed “Jarvis” for her resting spot of the day, a female black bear drew the attention of residents when helicopters began circling a La Cañada neighborhood Wednesday morning.
“When they told us it was a bear … that gave us relief,” La Cañada resident Mary Robbins said. “We have had bears on our street before. They are usually harmless. They are usually just looking for food.”
The estimated 200-pound, 3-year-old black bear climbed about 40 feet up a cedar tree at the 5100 block of Jarvis Avenue to take a nap. According to Los Angeles Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Patrol Lt. Marty Wall, this is one of the safest situations for both the bear and the public. Instead of agitating the bear to force her out of the tree, law enforcement could wait for her to wake up and come down on her own before retreating to the nearby canyon.

“We’ve forced them before but, in this case, we don’t need to do that,” Lt. Wall said. “We like the fact that [the bear] is only one residential yard away from where it’s supposed to be. There is a canyon behind these houses.”
Earlier in the day, a bear was seen on Waltonia Drive. According to Waltonia resident Debbie Guiderra, seeing the bear was “awesome.”
“I was so excited! I’ve lived in the area all my life and you hear about bears but never actually see them,” said Guiderra who was returning from the grocery store around 8 a.m. when she spotted the bear walking through nearby yards. “It hopped a fence and went into the wash. It was awesome.”