BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Police spent much of the overnight hours chasing a bear through the Ensley area of metro Birmingham.

WBRC-TV reports that Birmingham police and animal control officers spent several hours chasing the bear early Tuesday morning after neighbors called them around midnight.

Officers said they managed to get the bear into a tree, where it stayed around 3 a.m. Animal control officers then used a tranquilizer gun to sedate the animal so they could remove it from the neighborhood.

[Got bear pictures? Send them to photos@al.com]

