Man Shoots Mama Bear, Tries to Sell Her Cubs at Gas Station
Fish and Game officials in California's Nevada County were alerted by passers-by to a man allegedly attempting to unload a pair of bear cubs at a local gas station in North San Juan Wednesday afternoon.
"I've never seen anything like this in the State of California," remarked Department of Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy.
Chris Puett told investigators the cubs' mother had charged toward him on his property and he was forced to shoot her.
"He told us he had shot the mother bear in self-defense and the mother bear ran off, leaving the cubs behind," Foy told the LA Times. "He apparently kept the cubs for a couple of days, then made his decision."
Puett said he wanted to find the bears a good home, so he brought them to the Sierra Super Stop in a cage hoping to find takers.
The two black bear cubs, a male and a female, were transported to a facility in Rancho Cordova for observation. From there they will be moved to a rehabilitator near Lake Tahoe, where they will remain until next Winter, when they will be released to hibernate in a makeshift den after being tagged by Fish and Game officials.
