Mountain Bear Takes Ride On Trash Truck To Fresno

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A black mountain bear took a ride of its life about 65 miles on a trash truck to a dump site where it escaped and ran free for a short time.

The bear was eventually captured by Fresno police and California Department of Fish and Wildlife authorities, who tranquilized the wild animal and captured it. Neither the bear nor any humans were injured.

On Tuesday afternoon, patrol officers were dispatched to a disposal site in Fresno regarding a large bear running loose at the site. Turns out, the bear had crawled into a trash compactor that was picked up by a disposal truck in the Hume Lake area earlier Tuesday.

The driver was not aware that the bear had crawled into the compactor and was either sleeping inside or rifling through the trash. The bear is being returned to Hume Lake.