Bear snoozing in tree surprises Summit residents

A black bear gave some Summit residents quite a surprise on New Year’s morning when they woke up to find him snoozing in a tree in their neighborhood.

CBS news team at the scene captured the residents’ reaction to the sleepy bruin, which ranged from, “I love living so close to nature; this is why we moved out of the city,” to “I’m happy this guy survived the bear hunt.”

“Police say

New Jersey Fish and Wildlife [division] will not be coming because that bear is way too high up in the tree,” explained CBS news reporter, Meg Baker in an on-scene video. “What they would normally do would be to dart the bear, but in this case the bear would fall too far to the ground and injure itself.”

The Summit Police department recently posted the following alert on their website: "Bear wandering on Ashland Rd. Currently treed in area of #299. NJ Fish & Game notified. DO NOT APPROACH THE BEAR!"

In the meantime, all residents can do is watch the bear lounging in his treetop domain -- and wait to see what happens.