By DENNIS JENSEN Rutland

Forrest Hammond, a biologist with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department, came upon a strange scene after he was contacted by Ascutney Fire Department Chief Darrin Spaulding early Sunday afternoon.

What Hammond found was a black bear with his head stuck inside an old steel milk can, about 100 yards off the road on Route 106.

The 53-year-old Hammond, a longtime bear biologist who lives in Hartland, arrived at the scene at about 12:30 p.m., with state police, firemen and a crowd of about 20 people looking on.

Fortunately for the bear — a young male that weighed about 120 pounds — Hammond had a kit in his truck with three vials of Telazol, a tranquilizer, left over from a bobcat capture last winter.

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