Black bears nap 14 meters from power pole, next to a high-voltage line

Two black bears climbed onto a utility pole and are now sleeping near the power line in southeastern Manitoba.

A Manitoba Hydro employee saw the drizzle near the small community of Sundown as he was going to work around 9 am on Wednesday.

They sit at the top of the highest transverse beam of the pole, about 14 meters above the ground.

Crews turned off a section of the 66,000-volt transmission line around the bears to ensure their safety, said Hydro spokesman Bruce Owen.

"We do not know why they climbed to the post.It is quite rare, especially in this wild province of the province, where is traditionally farmland," he said, guessing that the bears were scared early in the morning and left to find an escape safely.

Unfortunately, it was a bad choice. A zap from this line, when it was live, and the bears would have been made for.

We really want these bears to say, "OK, maybe it's time to move on and hibernate somewhere else.– Bruce Owen

"We hope, hopefully, that they'll fend for themselves, but at the moment, they seem very comfortable," said Owen.

Bears do not seem to be concerned, "but we are," Owen said.

"We are making great progress in protecting wildlife in all our operations, and we really want these bears to say, OK, it may be time to move on and hibernate elsewhere. "

The bears sit at the top of the uppermost transverse beam of the pole, about 14 meters above the ground. (Ryan Canada / ryanjcanada / Instagram)

Hydro has contacted the province's Department of Sustainable Development and is planning, if the bears are still up there later in the day, to have the conservation officers try to calm them down and relocate them to their homes. a safer place, Owen explained.

Meanwhile, Hydro takes a wait-and-see approach, standing at bay and "trying to keep the gawkers out of the way" so the bears feel confident enough to come back down.