You've probably never heard of Danbury, Conn., mayor Mark Boughton. Heck, you've probably never heard of Danbury.
But Boughton brought on plenty of Twitter attention Tuesday morning when he live-tweeted -- in mock tough guy, tongue-in-cheek fashion -- the rescue of a 240-pound black bear from a downtown Danbury tree.
Here's how @MayorMark, as he's known online, started off his narrative:
We have a very large bear stuck in a tree behind the Bishop Curtis Homes. - seriously. #Danbury— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
In this tweet, "DEEP" refers to Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection:
DEEP is on the way. #Bear #Danbury— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
See what Boughton did here?
Please "bear" with us as we work on the situation. Danbury Fire Dept. is on scene. #bear #Danbury— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Like most, Boughton hoped the Bear would be freed from the tree, and relocated to a safer area:
Free the bear. Free the bear. #Danbury #Bear— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
He even provided some visual content:
Another shot from Danbeary. Our bear. #Danbury #bear twitter.com/MayorMark/stat…— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
It soon became apparent that the safest resolution for all parties would be to tranquilize the bear before moving it to a less populated area. Boughton continued to document the new developments visually:
DEEP is loading up tranquilizer gun. It's on like donkey kong. #savethebear twitter.com/MayorMark/stat…— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
He even showed citizens how DEEP rigged up a net to catch the bear safely:
The net. DEEP vs. The Bear. #Danbury #savethebear twitter.com/MayorMark/stat…— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Then:
Shots fired. Shots fired. #savethebear— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Bear with me folks. Waiting for the tranquilizer to work. #savethebear #Danbeary— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Trouble, he needs another shot of tranquilizer. Unbearable! #savethebear— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
The bear has since been safely relocated, state officials told The Hartford Courant, while Boughton said on Twitter that its new home is a state park. Wildlife officials identified the animal as a 240-pound male between 3 and 4 years of age.
Before the sedated bear was moved, however, Boughton posed for a photo op:
Who's your daddy now? #danbeary #bearsaved twitter.com/MayorMark/stat…— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Some followers took exception to the photo's caption, but Boughton said he was only kidding:
@sukiekoluki I think you have to read the whole twitter feed. Tongue in cheek. Humor.— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
By Tuesday night, he was back to dealing with more mundane goings-on about town:
@jwolffitz69 No. Call 311. UNIT will checkit out.— MayorMark (@MayorMark) June 4, 2013
Should more mayors take Boughton's approach to Twitter, or was this too much? Give us your take in the comments.