By Mary O’KEEFE

Crescenta Valley has the San Gabriel Mountains to the north, the Verdugo Mountains to the south and San Rafael Hills to the east. So it is no wonder that sightings of mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and bears are constant; but there are some wildlife visitors that seem to capture the interest of many.

Over a decade ago, Crescenta Valley was all about Meatball the bear. This male bear first captured the hearts and minds of locals when he dined on frozen meatballs in a Whiting Woods garage freezer. Sightings around town of Meatball were a normal thing – even after he was tranquilized by Fish & Wildlife personnel. He was repeatedly taken to Angeles National Forest but continuously returned to the Crescenta Valley until finally, for his safety, he was taken to a sanctuary near San Diego.

On Tuesday, shades of Meatball reappeared as the Crescenta Valley was visited by a young bear. He first appeared in the tree of a residence off Ramsdell Avenue near Crescenta Valley High School (CVHS).

A construction worker across from the residence told the resident he had noticed the small bear enter his yard. The resident looked in the backyard and found the young bear sleeping in a pepper tree.

“He said, ‘You have a bear in your yard,” said the resident.

The residents called the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station and deputies responded. They contacted Fish & Wildlife but because the bear was in a private yard Fish & Wildlife agents were not going to respond to the situation and the deputies were assigned to keep an eye on the bear. The initial thought was the bear on his own would find his way back to the woods.

The residents, who have lived in the area for several decades, were very calm while the bear took a nap in their tree. There were some concerns, however, of what would happen when CVHS students left the campus for lunch or at the end of the school day. As the day went on the little bear decided to leave his pepper tree and walked down the block to the front of CVHS at the corner of Community and Glenwood avenues. At first the bear tried to climb the fence that was between the parking lot and the campus but it was unsuccessful, so it climbed a tree in the small parking lot and once again took a nap.

The bear was calm but school administrators had a situation on their hands they hadn’t expected on a Tuesday afternoon. They had been informed about the bear earlier in the morning so they had already limited lunchtime student release; however, when the bear came to the school it was time to adjust again.

The school implemented its shelter-in-place protocol, and once again a call went out to the Fish & Wildlife Dept.

“We are aware of the bear and are getting a scientist to the area,” said Steven Rodriguez, Fish & Wildlife spokesperson.

In the meantime deputies monitored the bear, which CVHS principal Christine Benitez was calling Buddy, and a plan was made on how to release students. Principal Benitez sent out notices to parents and guardians keeping them informed of the situation. Students who were in CVHS’ 8000 building took photos of their little visitor before being safely released at the end of the school day with administrators and deputies lining their exit.

The little bear stayed in the tree and tried to get some sleep, which was increasingly difficult as word was out the bear was there. Many onlookers stopped by with their cellphone cameras and parents brought their children to look at the little bear. It was relatively quiet and the kids, and parents, were all smiles as they caught a glimpse of the newest Falcon. It seemed the helicopters flying overhead were keeping the bear from his nap.

“We will wait until dark,” said a Fish & Wildlife environmental scientist who was at the school. “We will continue to monitor the situation.”

One of the concerns centered around what was thought to be the baby bear’s mother that was seen in the area with another cub. Earlier in the morning, around 3 a.m., the mama and two cubs were spotted walking through the CVHS campus looking for food. It was after leaving the school when the cub got separated from its sibling and mama.

The mama bear and cub were seen walking toward CV Park and into the woods; they were then lost among the trees.

The cub did leave CVHS on Tuesday evening and made its way to the woods – hopefully to rejoin its mother and sibling.

“We don’t know if it met up with its [mother] but bears have a strong sense of smell so they will probably find each other,” Rodriguez said. “We are continuing to monitor the [situation].”