A wayward black bear wandered into a busy section of Lawrence Monday, startling residents and hiding in a backyard before it was tranquilized.
Residents spotted the bear near Hobson Street around 11:45 a.m. and notified the state Environmental Police and Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife staff, a police spokesperson said.
The year-old male bear, which weighed about 110 pounds, hid under a group of parked boats as officers armed with tranquilizers blocked its exit, police said.
“It really was an ideal situation, with the bear being enclosed the way it was,” said Dave Wattles, a black bear and furbearer biologist at MassWildLife.
Officers were able to get on top of nearby buildings, giving them a clear shot at the hiding bear. They quickly removed the animal from the yard and placed in the back of a truck, police said. Bags of ice were placed on his body to help keep him cool during the ride to a wooded, rural area, Wattles said.
“Tranquilized animals have a hard time regulating their body temperature so we use ice to make sure they don’t overheat,” Wattles said. “On a day like today, it probably wasn’t needed, but in the summer, it can make a big difference.”
Encounters with black bears are not uncommon, especially this time of year, when young males roam in search for mates, Wattles said.
“They’ll wander though the natural greenways and end up in people’s yards. For instance, it’s possible that he was following the Merrimack River and got scared around so many people,” Wattles said.
Black bears very rarely attack people, he said.
“There has never been a black bear mauling in Massachusetts,” Wattles said. “It’s happened elsewhere, and people need to remember that they’re wild animals, but never in Massachusetts.”
Wattles urged residents not to leave out exposed compost or garbage and bring in their bird feeders.
“Bears won’t skip such a calorie-rich meal and negative encounters happen when they associate people with food,” he said.
Andrew Grant can be reached at andrew.grant@globe.com.