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Bear spotted in Pittsburgh mall

FRAZER, Pa., July 22 (UPI) -- A Pittsburgh-area mall was evacuated after a bear was spotted roaming through a Sears store, officials said.

The small female brown bear entered the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer about 9 p.m. Saturday, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.

Wildlife conservation officers were able to lure the bear toward the entrance doors, where she was trapped between the double doors and shot twice with a tranquilizer gun, officials said.

No one was hurt during the incident and the bear was taken away from the mall, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.

"It was probably more frightened than anything," said Dan Puhala, a wildlife conservation officer. "For the most part that bear wanted to get away from everybody."

Missing dog shows up after 19 days

BOSTON, N.Y., July 22 (UPI) -- The New York owners of a formerly missing dog say their pooch traveled about 50 miles in 19 days to make it home.

The dog, a 5-year-old black mastiff and Great Dane mix named Gilly, reappeared near Lauren and Brad Julichers' home in Boston, N.Y., Thursday after being missing for 19 days, The Buffalo (N.Y.) News reported.

The Julichers said they dropped Gilly off at Brad's parents' home in the Village Glen area of Williamsville on June 30 as the family made their way to Cuba Lake for a vacation.

Within 24 hours of being left behind, Gilly escaped.

The Julichers came home early to search for their dog, but, regardless of numerous reports of Gilly-sightings, they were unable to find her.

Unbeknownst to the Julichers, Gilly was slowly making her way home. She was found by Lauren Julicher about half a mile from her home around 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

"I dropped to my knees in my white jeans and just started crying," Lauren Julicher said.

Falcon ditches dump duty in Canada

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 21 (UPI) -- A falcon that went AWOL from a Canadian landfill may have caught a wayward wind current, its trainer speculated.

Arlington, a Saker falcon, went missing recently from the Brady Road Landfill in Winnipeg where it was part of an eight-bird squadron assigned to chase away sea gulls.

No one has seen Arlington since then, but wildlife biologist Emily Craster, who trained the falcons, said an upper-level prairie wind may have carried the bird off to who knows where.

"What happens is that on a lovely day, on a nice windy day as well, they go and have fun up in the air and they can get taken away with the wind," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

"He could have gone in any direction," she said.

Arlington is equipped with a bell and a radio transmitter. Anyone who spots the wayward bird is asked to call 1-877-OWL-1-OWL.

LA cat hunkers down in Everglades

NAPLES, Fla., July 21 (UPI) -- A woman who rescued a California cat stranded along Florida's famed Alligator Alley highway says she was amazed the animal hadn't been turned in to a snack.

An animal advocate from Naples, said two of her colleagues found Sam waiting patiently at the scene of a traffic accident involving its owner that occurred two days earlier in the heart of the perilous Everglades.

"With everything that's out there, the snakes, gators and turkey vultures, I'm shocked that he survived," cat advocate Camile Loge told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Sam's ordeal began Monday when a van driven by owner Nikki Saltzburg collided with another vehicle on Interstate 75 as she was moving from from Los Angeles to Miami. The crash sent Sam's crate flying into the bushes where it broke open. Sam was no where to be found when emergency crews took the motorists to the hospital.

Loge and other animal lovers heard about Sam and put out the word that there was a feline in trouble somewhere in the swamps. Kathleen Sullivan, who runs a Naples cat sanctuary, drove out to the crash site with her husband and found Sam hanging out in the brush.

Loge is looking after Sam until Saltzburg is on her feet in Miami and will bring home at a later date.