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The "Bucket Bear" of Clarion County walks along Rt. 368 prior to its release from the object on its head by a group of volunteer rescuers.

(KRISSY ELDER)

The "Bucket Bear" of Perry Township, Clarion County, is free. At about 1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1, just off Rt. 368, an ad hoc group of volunteers managed to cut through and remove what appeared to be a large plastic bucket from the young black bear's head.

The bear immediately bolted out from under Shawn Balcita, who was laying atop the animal to pin it to the ground, "jumped up and ran right away," said Dean Hornberger, of Sligo, another of the rescue volunteers.

According to Krissy Elder, a Seneca, Pa., woman who helped to draw attention to the bear's plight through a "Save the Bucket Bear" Facebook page launched late on Sunday, the bear was observed with the bucket on its head repeatedly over the past month, although other reports say it was first seen in that condition as early as July 4. She became aware of the animal on Sunday, while visiting her father, Arnold Elder, who lives where the bear was roaming. The Pennsylvania Game Commission, which could not be reached for comment on Monday, reportedly has a live-trap set in the area to capture the bear.

"I watched the bear bounce its head off the fence," noted Elder, who volunteers as an animal rescue worker. "It just couldn't see. That poor bear couldn't see where it was walking."

She and some friends created the Facebook page and posted a photo of the bear, which attracted the attention of Hornberger, who planned a rescue attempt with his girlfriend, Samantha Eigenbrod. "I said right away, 'We're going to have to go out there tomorrow morning and see if we can help this thing.'"

Hornberger and Eigenbrod, who also volunteer in animal rescue programs, were on the scene Monday morning. They spent about two hours tramping through the woods and wetlands in the area where Elder took her photo of the bear, but failed to find the animal and were returning to the truck when the bear appeared near to Rt. 368.

With Eigenbrod filming the event on her cell phone, Hornberger attempted to pull off the offending item, which turned out to be a "maxi," one of the black air bags that provide cushioning between a tractor and its trailer. The metal rim of the maxi was around the bear's neck and prevented Hornberger from just tugging it free.

Another look at the "Bucket Bear."

By that time, Balcita, Eric Kribbel and Kaitlyn Lakin had parked their vehicles and joined the effort, which became a 20-minute chase through a creek and into "the biggest mud hole in the area," according to Hornberger. The crew, including Eigenbrod, who also filmed the event with her cell phone, eventually tackled the bear in that wetland area. "We all sort of dog-piled on top of the bear to get it down," recalled Hornberger.

Tugging by several of the group would not dislodge the maxi. Kribbel attempted to cut through the metal ring with his Leatherman utility tool, but that also failed, sending Hornberger running back to the toolbox in his truck.

He returned with a hacksaw that 20 minutes later had enabled the rescuers to cut through the metal ring and enough of the plastic of the maxi to pry it open wide enough to pull it from the bear's head.

Hornberger said Balcita received a few minor scratches from the bear's claws, but otherwise the entire rescue party suffered nothing more than a heavy dousing in the mud of the wetland area.

He estimated the bear's weight at 180-200, noting that "he was way behind what he should be for his weight" at this time of year, when bears normally pack on stores of fat for the coming winter hibernation. It also appeared "physically exhausted" after the chase into the wetland.

A small opening in the maxi had allowed the bear to get some food and water during its confinement, according to Hornberger.

After emerging from the wetland, he said, "I shook those guys' hand a half-dozen times" for their help. "I thought I would be able to just pull it off," but that was no ordinary "bucket" on the head of the "Bucket Bear" and it required group action to be removed.