In a tale reminiscent of Winnie-the-Pooh, a young bear on an island near Thunder Bay, Ont., has a large plastic jar stuck to its head, making it impossible for the animal to eat or drink.

Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources said Wednesday it has been trying to catch the bear since Tuesday night.

A young bear in northern Ontario is in a precarious situation after getting its head stuck in a plastic jar. (Rob Paterson/Canadian Press)

Rob Paterson snapped a photo of the animal as it wandered onto the deck of his summer home on Lambert Island. Paterson said he has tried to isolate the bear without success.

He said local residents felt sorry for the bear and their first reaction was to help the animal. They then realized it would not be a good idea to approach a bear.

"We've made every attempt so far to try to corral him or trap him or dart him, but he's very elusive," Paterson said in a telephone interview.

The bear is in this predicament because someone didn't do a proper job of recycling the jar in the first place, he added.

"Animals get into trouble when we don't do things the way we should do them," he said. "Sadly, we've put this animal in harm's way with not discarding recyclable materials properly."

In A.A. Milne's 1926 classic children's book Winnie-the-Pooh, the happy-go-lucky bear finds himself in a sticky situation as he gets his head stuck in a honey jar in search of his favourite sweet snack.