Wandering bears backyard capture draws breathless crowd.

Police and animal control officers, talking by radio to emergency dispatchers, tracked the bear's movements as they headed to Hollywood. They found the black bear so feet up an oak tree, looking down at a barking Rottweiler, in someone's back yard in the 6500 BLock of Hudson Ave.  No one was home, but Sincere, the dog, made sure the furry fugitive stayed in the tree for two hours while authorities figured out how to safely tranquilize and capture him.

Meanwhile, a crowd gathered in front of the house. Excited children giggled and pointed as adults ran by with cameras. A shirtless man with a ponytail rode by on a unicycle. Folks speculated on what they'd do if a bear wandered into their back yards.  I'd probably feed him and try to keep him as a pet," said one woman who could hardly catch her breath. "If I'd got over here first and got a good shot at him, I'd had had bear steaks tonight," said Albert Hardy, who sat in the shade across the street with his Jack Russell terrier, Frisky.

Around noon, a Mattress Discounters truck arrived. game Wardens set the load of donated old mattresses around the tree, then shot the bear with a tranquilizer dart.  About 15 minutes later, the bear got sleepy, fell out of the tree and plopped onto the mattresses. Authorities believe the wandering bear is the same one sighted several times earlier this month on Newtown Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard. Those sightings spurred calls to 911 in Va Bch.

Ot most likely followed area wetlands from the Dismal Swamp to Lake Edward or Lake Taylor, authorities said.  "I think the bear just inadvertently scampered over the fence and wasn't aware that the dog was there," said Norfolk Police Lt. Wally Driskell.  "The dog did his job; he was guarding the yard."

The pooch was taken from the yard while officers loaded the bear into a truck. The sleeping bear was chauffeured to the dismal Swamp where he was tagged and released Thursday afternoon, police said. Christopher Brinkley learned about the circus in his back yard at about 5 p.m. Brinkley, who fed Sincere before he left for his job, said he had/nt seen anything unusual Thursday morning.  He heard about the other bear sightings but was skeptical. "I didn't think something like that could happen," he said.

Bears are more active during the summer, which is their breeding season,. according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. And while they are more likely to be spotted in the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains or the Dismal Swamp, a recent survey done by the agency's field staff showed 85 bear sightings across the state in the past four years.  Black bears eat mostly vegetation and insects, the agency says.  And they rarely are aggressive towards humans, unless they feel threatened.