Photos: Black bear climbs up tree in downtown Northampton

A stubborn black bear attracted a lot of attention in Northampton Sunday morning after it climbed up a downtown tree and refused to come down.

Northampton police responded to the situation at 11:30 a.m. and found the bear in a tree on Gothic Street near Main Street, police said in a Facebook post.

Massachusetts Environmental Police also responded, and eventually had to use a tranquilizer dart to get the bear down, police said.

Environmental Police then took the bear to an undisclosed safe location.

As the weather warms in the spring, hungry black bears leave their dens looking for food after hibernating for the winter, according to MassWildlife.

Last month, the department reminded people in Middlesex County, Worcester County, and western Massachusetts to remove bird feeders, trash, and compost from their yards to keep them from attracting bears to their property.

Typically, bears in Massachusetts don’t live further east than the western edges of Essex, Middlesex, and Norfolk County. But last summer, bears were spotted as far east as Danvers and Peabody, as close to Boston as Woburn, and as far south as Easton and Middleborough.

Want to leave a comment?

Create an Account Or sign in to your account

To comment, please create a screen name in your profile

To comment, please verify your email address

Conversation

This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com