The Wyoming Game and Fish Department will let a scared, if not sleeping, bear lie, at least for a while.

The department's field office in Casper received several calls Wednesday about a black bear wandering through a neighborhood in the east area of the city, spokeswoman Janet Milek said.

"We followed up those reports and tried to immobilize the black bear so that we could relocate him, and essentially with all the commotion we were unable to do so," Milek said.

Game and Fish officials know where it is, but believe it is best for the bear and the public to shed the drama in hopes that it will get a clear head and a way out, she said.

"So we are going to let this black bear kind of calm down and hopefully will be on his way out of town and back towards home," Milek said.

The Game and Fish Department received its first call at 6:30 a.m., and then several others until mid-afternoon. The Casper Police Department assisted.

Game and Fish officials set up a trap near a house, but removed it after the last call that identified the bear's location.

However, that location did not lend itself to easy immobilization with a tranquilizer gun, so Game and Fish has adopted the calm strategy for now, Milek said.

"Essentially this bear is so scared he doesn't know what to do," she said.

If the idea of a scared bear seems chicken, consider the bear has been on the mountain and away from noise, people, traffic, people, dogs, concrete and more people.

The bear's mom probably has new cubs and no longer wants last year's model around, so she kicks the yearling out of its habitat.

"And then you wake up one morning and you're in the middle of one of the busiest neighborhoods in Casper; so you've got dogs barking at you and kids around and loud motorcycles and it's just a scary situation for him," Milek said. "So we just want to try and reduce the stress on the bear as much as possible so he can safely return home."

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