NORTHAMPTON — City councilors pondering a final vote on an ordinance that would prohibit the feeding of wildlife will take into account the cautionary tale about the paramedic, the bear and the cocoa butter.

According to an email sent to the city by Environmental Police Officer John Pajak and forwarded to each councilor, the incident in question took place on June 23, the night of the fireworks display at Look Park. A female paramedic had gone out into the parking lot of the ambulance station near the Northampton Bike Path to get a look at the fireworks when she felt something lick her arm.

"Apparently the paramedic wears a cocoa butter moisturizer with coconut oil in it," Pajak wrote. "After she screamed, the bear must have figured out that she was not 'food' because it ran off."

Pajak said he subsequently spoke to the paramedic in person and that the incident was the subject of a 911 call. Police have not confirmed the call, however, and it is not known if the woman was an employee of the Northampton Fire Department or Pioneer Valley Ambulance, both of which operate ambulances out of the Florence site.

To Pajak, who favors the ordinance, the incident was a good example why people should not feed wild animals.

"Yet another negative result of the bears becoming habituated to people feeding them," he wrote. "I'm just glad it wasn't some 9-year-old kid with an ice cream cone because it could have been bad."

The ordinance would prohibit the deliberate feeding of any undomesticated wildlife, including bears, coyotes, foxes and raccoons. According to Council President William H. Dwight, it was driven largely by residents of the Marion Street neighborhood, who have complained that Thomas C. Wooster of 33 Stonewall Drive has been deliberately attracting bears with food.

Wooster, who has lived in his house for 33 years, said Tuesday that he simply has two bird-feeders in his enclosed yard that bears sometimes raid.

“If you feed the birds, you’re going to end up feeding the bears,” he said.

The ordinance exempts bird-feeders as long as they do not become a habitual bear attraction, but Wooster said he has already been threatened with fines. He maintains that the ordinance violates his Fourth Amendment right against illegal search by allowing law enforcement authorities to search his property without a warrant.

Although he has retained a lawyer, Wooster believes the ordinance is “a done deal” and plans to challenge it in court if it becomes law. He laughed at the notion that he is somehow responsible for the cocoa butter incident, noting that there has not been a recorded bear attack on a human in Northampton in memory.

The council passed the measure unanimously upon first reading and will take a final vote on Thursday.

Although the ordinance originally included “feral cats” in its list of wildlife, the cats were exempted by vote of the council. Those who violate the ordinance would be subject to a fine, although the fine would be waived if the violator addresses the issue within 14 days. Dwight described the ordinance as a way to let the public and law enforcement anticipate problems rather than as punishment.