COCHISE COUNTY, Arizona — A bear in Arizona found itself in a dangerous situation — atop a utility pole, clambering amid wires and a pair of transformers — but got an assist from a lineman.
The incident unfolded on Nov. 15 when the black bear clambered up the pole for some reason in Cochise County, Arizona. Werner Neubauer, of the Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative, came to the rescue, ascending in a bucket truck to help the critter.
"It's definitely not anything that's part of our training," he told ABC15, a Phoenix-based television station. Corn had just been harvested in an adjacent field, perhaps luring the animals, while wildlife experts said the bear likely climbed the pole trying to escape humans.
On encountering the bear, Neubauer's crew "de-energized" the pole so the animal wouldn't get electrocuted, then Neubauer prodded at the animal with a long fiberglass pole from inside the raised bucket. Video shows him poking the bear and the bear resisting.
"It might have looked a little bit mean because I was shoving at it with that stick and stuff, but I'm trying to keep it from getting itself killed," Neubauer said.
Finally, the animal shimmied down the wooden pole and ran off. He started to climb another nearby pole, thought better of the plan and instead ran off into a field.
Some people, he joked, have started calling him "the bear whisperer" and, in fact, Neubauer helped a bear similarly stuck atop a power pole back in 2021, according to the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, which wrote about the encounter. The article said Neubauer has also helped raccoons and cats stuck in power poles, even a bobcat.
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