On Thursday September 1, Brian Springer from the Pennsylvania Game Commission brought a bear which had been trapped behind the Road Toad to LVHS to visit Mr. Raymond’s Biology I class. The students got to see first hand what happens when a bear is caught.

Before they started Mr. Springer gave the class a short explanation as to what they would be doing to the animal. He discussed the tools they would use and why they needed to do these things to protect the bear.

The class observed as Mr. Springer unloaded the 150-pound bear from the trap. They were excited but did not really know what to expect since the visit was spur of the moment.

The bear was a male between one and two years old. It was tranquilized before it got to the school for safety as they performed the different tasks on him.

Sophomore Josh Gruendling wrote down the number of the ear tag they would be putting on the bear. The Game Commission uses ear tags to help them identify the bears.

Before they started anything Mr. Springer made sure the bear was not going to wake up by putting gel in its eyes. It is essential the bear stays asleep for these procedures so when it wakes up it will not even know what happened.

He also covered the bear’s eyes to make sure the sunlight would not wake him up. In the case of bears taking double precautions is always better.

Then he sprayed a solution on the wound where the tranquilizer hit to clean the area and protect it from infection. The Game Commission takes extreme care in protecting the bears they capture.

Sophomore Justin Payne helped to crimp the bear’s ear and to put the tag on. The sole purpose of the tag is to identify the bear to the Game Commission.

The class also got to watch as Mr. Springer tattooed the bear’s gums. He did this in addition to the ear tag for identification, especially in the event that the tag gets torn off.

Gina Dicesere helped to catalogue the bear’s tooth they pulled. They pulled the tooth in order to see how old the bear was.

The purpose of everything the class did to the bear is to help protect the species. For example, if the Game Commission catches this bear again it will help the them estimate the population of bears and they can also track the health of the species this way.

Sophomore Chase Pahach got to pet the sleeping bear. “It was pretty cool to have an opportunity to get to do that,” he said.

Before Mr. Springer left with the bear he gave the class the chance to ask questions. He also explained what would happen to the bear next, it will be released back into wild and live just as it would have before being caught.

Mr. Raymond’s class consists of Jillian Knupp, Michael Luther, Justin Payne, Elizabeth Schellhammer, Carlos Chavez, Joey Shaffron, Josh Gruendling, Dan Hunter, Gina Dicesere, Sarah Murray, Wuinn Daley, Anna Hoch, April Goodman, Samantha Hoffman, Jacob Fitz, Robert Kowalczyk and Matt Ebberts. Carlos summed up the day by saying, “It was unbelievable!”