Yay CalTrans!
According to the email I got:
This bridge is on the Old Donner Pass Highway. It has spectacular Sierra views and views of Donner Lake and Donner Pass on Route 80.
A bear was walking across Rainbow Bridge (Old Hwy 40 at Donner Summit,Truckee) on Saturday when two cars also crossing the bridge scared the bear into jumping over the edge of the bridge.
Somehow the bear caught the ledge and was able to pull itself to safety. Authorities decided that nothing could be done to help Saturday night so they returned Sunday morning to find the bear sound asleep on the ledge.
After securing a net under the bridge the bear was tranquilized, fell into the net, lowered, then woke up and walked out of the net.
posted by Megan at 1:08 PM
14 Comments:
Man, that second picture is terrifying. I'm glad the bear was okay in the end. Probably got in all kinds of trouble for not coming home the night before, though.
Poor bear! Good work, bear saviors.
Looking at that more, it is sort of amazing how exactly those six pictures tell every aspect of the story.
Dilemma!
Danger!
MacGyver!
Promising!
Suspense!
Relief!
Each one is perfect and they left nothing out. It is the perfect story arc.
(I can't believe I accuse anyone else of being unable to turn off the constant critiquing.)
So you're a CalTrans phone dispatcher (?), get this call from a worried passerby and you transfer it to the Bridge Bear Rescue Division?
How do they decide who gets to go out and save the bear? Do they draw straws? Because that sounds a lot more interesting and fun than almost anything else I can imagine a CalTrans worker doing that day.
Dude, and what if you're the head guy and you know the bear is there but you can't get to the bear that night? S/he must have lain awake all night visualizing... coordinate with Fish and Game, strong net, where do I get net?, four climbers from the Bridge Inspection Dept, shut down traffic, will need flagmen... I mean, someone must have thought the whole thing through.
I have a lot of faith in the guys in the yards, though, who really build things all day. They know how to jury-rig stuff.
This is tremendous. Silly bear!
Between panels three and four, how did the bear get into the net? I mean, in panel three, the bear looks as far back from the edge as it can get. Did they tranquilize it, then have someone PUSH it into the net? Whose job was THAT?
What with the successful Bay Bridge work on Labor Day and the quick turnaround on the MacArthur Maze Meltdown, CalTrans really seems to be delivering the bureaucratic goods these days.
Between panels three and four, how did the bear get into the net? I mean, in panel three, the bear looks as far back from the edge as it can get. Did they tranquilize it, then have someone PUSH it into the net?
If it didn't move farther out toward the edge on its own accord, it certainly looks like someone would have had to push the tranquilized bear. But I'm guessing that it actually did move on its own accord.
If I were the photographer, I would have been most frightened by the last picture. That's a big bear.
My officemates are all agog and will sing the praises of Cal Trans, this day.
I'm not back or anything, but I am procrastinating a little and ...
I liked this.
Pretty lady, I saw you and was happy you dropped by.
If the bear had fallen (heaven forbid) gee did I just invoke God's grace? well anyway if the bear had fallen would the carcass be edible? Does anyone know what bear tastes like? I'm reasonably certain that it wouldn't taste like seal. Seal tastes extremely fishy by the way and I don't recommend it to anyone, well maybe if it's on sale, that would be different. Never turn down a bargain. But bears eat a lot of carrion as well as fish and berries, so would the meat taste more like seal or more like spotted owl? Does anybody know?
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