A young bear cub is back in Northern Ontario after an unexpected ten-hour drive to Windsor on the weekend.
The bear was found in the middle of the road near Cochrane on Saturday by two men who then loaded the wild animal into the back of their van, fed it Taco Bell, and drove ten hours to the city.
Pet and Wildlife Rescue in Chatham-Kent received a call from a volunteer in Windsor that evening, but at first executive director Myriam Armstrong didn't believe it.
"I've had those calls before and it never ends up being a bear," she said. "So she went, and sure enough, she sent me a picture of a bear in the back of a van."
Armstrong said the bear may have been hit by a vehicle on the road. It was in good physical shape but was dehydrated and appeared shell-shocked by its ordeal.
"It was a cub. I'd say about four months old. It was about the size of a good-sized lab," said Armstrong. "Travelling ten hours in the back of a hot vehicle isn't great for anyone."
The agency agreed to take custody of the bear briefly and started working the phones.
The first call went to the Ministry of Natural Resources, which was already looking for the bear and suggested some agencies better equipped to rehabilitate the animal.
"We reached out to a rescue called Bear With Us in Huntsville -- who agreed to meet us halfway. So, we transferred him the next day to a safe place," Armstrong said.
The hope is the bear will be returned to the wild.
"We do a lot of assistance with wildlife and it's not always a happy ending. They said they would keep us in the loop so we're just basically waiting for an update," added Armstrong.
She does not recommend picking up wild animals if you see one who appears injured. A call to the police is a good first step, but a local wildlife organization can offer advice.
"Never, ever, ever feed them anything. This poor bear was fed Taco Bell, which I doubt it should be eating. It needs to be examined by somebody who knows what they're looking at," explained Armstrong. "Don't get creative."