Teacup poodle chases bear up a tree

KIRKLAND, Wash., May 19 (UPI) -- A Washington state man said his teacup poodle chased an approximately 200-pound black bear up a tree in his back yard.

Robert Carroll of the Rose Hill neighborhood in Kirkland said he ran outside when his 21-year-old daughter shouted there was a bear in the back yard about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and he watched as the family poodle, Shmoopy, charged the bruin and chased it up a tree, the Kirkland Reporter reported Wednesday.

"The bear was really startled -- I was not too worried about the dog at the time," Carroll said. "I was only thinking, bear in yard! Rose Hill? I have seen coyotes and deer in this neighborhood, but not in a million years did I ever think seeing a bear in this neighborhood was possible."

Carroll said he clapped his hands at the bear and it jumped from the tree into a neighbor's yard.

Alicia Ames, who has lived about a mile from Rose Hill Junior High for 12 years, said she spotted a bear that may have been the same animal about 6 a.m. Tuesday. She said her dogs barked at the bear, and it climbed her fence and fled the area. Ames said it was the first time she had heard of a bear being in the area.