Loose bear swims in pool, climbs tree in California neighborhood

LOS ANGELES, June 9 (UPI) -- A black bear was seen making itself feel at home in a California neighborhood on Wednesday before making its way back to its natural habitat.

California Fish and Wildlife shared photos of the bear and provided updates as they patiently waited for the "wily" bear to make its way down from a tree.

"Wardens on scene working to haze the bear back into habitat safely," they wrote. "Will wait the bear out, no reason to shoot or dart for now. Once [helicopters] clear out bear usually climbs down."

Resident Erin Gershik told CBS Los Angeles that her husband spotted the bear while adding water to their swimming pool in their La Cañada-Flintridge home.

"He just noticed that there was water along our steps. So he ran inside and turned the news on and saw that there was a bear in our backyard," she said. "He might have just missed him by may be 30 seconds as he was walking around the other side of our yard."

Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Andrew Hughan told the Los Angeles Times that the 2 to 3-year-old female bear swam in a residents pool before taking up solace in the tree.

"It's a wily little fellow," he said.

Hughan added that the bear was not seen acting aggressively and that it's prolonged stay in the tree was likely a result of the large crowd of residents, media members and authorities.

"The bear is terrified," he said. "It's just terrified of the noises, the police cars, the helicopters...We want people to back off."

Eventually the bear made its way down from the tree and Fish and Wildlife ultimately reported they were unable to track the bear, which they took as a good sign.