Bear encounter in Connecticut

Reading the post on the bear encounter on Cannon Mt. prompted me to report a close encounter I had last week in Connecticut. And it was actually in an area surrounded by suburban develoment. Early one evening I was running down the paved access road to the trails to the Heublein Tower in Talcott Mt. State Park in Bloomfield, and a large black bear ran across the road about 30 yards in front of me. I probably did the wrong thing by keeping running (and looking over my shoulder repeatedly), but it really seemed to be heading fast and into the heavy woods along the road. It took me about 7-8 seconds to cross its path. I kept wondering what would have happened if I was there just that bit sooner...would we have collided, would the bear have stopped in its tracks (it had its head down and was moving fast), would I have heard it coming through the brush and had time to stop or back off. Hard to know. You read about what you're supposed to do but at the time it all happens pretty fast. After years of hiking in New England, out West, etc. it's the closest I've come and not had some sort of vehicle or other obstacle between me and the bear. I've certainly been more alert when hiking and running there since.

So you fellow Connecticut folks, be on the alert!

Kind of reminds me of a 400 lb. bear I saw dash across NY Route 28 (the main highway in the central Catskills) last year. The bear's head was down and he made no attempt to look either way. I was driving and about 100 yards from him as he crossed the wide road and shoulders in no more than 2 or 3 seconds. Then he dove under the guard rail without breaking stride on his way down to the Esopus Creek. Thankfully there was no traffic at the time. But I could see why bear / vehicle collisions are not uncommon.

However, I have never heard of a bear / human collision. My own hunch is that while a bear may have difficulty sensing an on-coming car or truck, he would probably sense a slower moving human much more easily. If not by sight then perhaps by their sense of smell or hearing which are both superior to their eyesight. So your bear would likely have veered around you had you been closer.

You did just fine - the chances of the bear being hostile are microscopic.

It's so sad that wild animals don't seem to have learned to avoid cars. I wish they'd evolve faster! While in the Catskills in August, I read that nearby Phoenicia had had more than a dozen bears killed by traffic during the summer; someone had taken a photo of 3 of them in a tree after they had raided someone's garbage. It's a common occurrence in town and doesn't speak well of trash/garbage disposal practices.

The roadside parking areas have no trash containers in that area, and consequently there's a lot of litter in the woods - whole bags of it here and there.

Mark Schaefer said:

Kind of reminds me of a 400 lb. bear I saw dash across NY Route 28 (the main highway in the central Catskills) last year. The bear's head was down and he made no attempt to look either way. I was driving and about 100 years from him as he crossed the wide road and shoulders in no more than 2 or 3 seconds. Then he dove under the guard rail without breaking stride on his way down to the Esopus Creek. Thankfully there was no traffic at the time. But I could see why bear / vehicle collisions are not uncommon.

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Bears and wild animals in general have to be very aware of their surroundings to survive. My guess is that the bear was aware of the car--cars do make a lot of noise.

On the other hand, wild animals evolved before cars were around and may be unable to comprehend things which move at 60+ mph. Certainly wouldn't be the first time that animals are unable to comprehend new dangers. (Eg Antarctic penguins have no concept of predators on land, so loose sled dogs would run thorough rookeries on wild killing sprees while the penguins simply watched. Didn't know enough to flee. (BTW, they do understand predators in the water.))

Another example would be deer when they try to run in front of cars. They clearly are aware of the car, just don't understand that it is much faster than they are.

Doug

DougPaul said:

Another example would be deer when they try to run in front of cars. They clearly are aware of the car, just don't understand that it is much faster than they are.
Doug

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It's my understanding that most animals don't have the required ability for abstract reasoning: noise & sight = approaching vehicle = approaching danger/possible death. Even after an animal (like a dog) has been injured, it still doesn't "get it". Deer can be frightened off the road by blowing your horn, like a bear can be frightened with an air horn.

BTW: I'm jealous of any CT bear sightings, as I still have not had one - even though almost everyone around me has . My town actually ran a contest to name a local sow and cubs a couple years ago and I know that group was at least across the street, if not in my yard, we just didn't see them.

Chip said:

... Even after an animal (like a dog) has been injured, it still doesn't "get it". ...

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I'll agree that animals don't have "reasoning" capacity, as do (most) humans. But I have to disagree with the quoted comment, as a matter of experience.

One of the dogs I've owned over the years was hit by a car and quite badly injured at about age 7 or 8. He lived to be 14. He was a gutsy dog, too, a fine hunter and one that had no meanness in him but would not shy away from a good scrap. After getting hit, that dog always cringed and even cowered when vehicles passed as we walked down the roadside. He certainly "got it."

G.

Grumpy said:

I'll agree that animals don't have "reasoning" capacity, as do (most) humans. But I have to disagree with the quoted comment, as a matter of experience.

One of the dogs I've owned over the years was hit by a car and quite badly injured at about age 7 or 8. He lived to be 14. He was a gutsy dog, too, a fine hunter and one that had no meanness in him but would not shy away from a good scrap. After getting hit, that dog always cringed and even cowered when vehicles passed as we walked down the roadside. He certainly "got it."

G.

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that's excellent, obviously a smart dog. One of the three mutts I've had was not as smart, never associated the road with cars and danger, and that was when neighborhood dogs were allowed to run free. You'd think he would have figured it out.

To the post: CT still wants bear sightings reported. http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/Wildlife/sighting/bearrpt.htm

No danger to reporting them as there is no "season" here.

Talk about smart humans/dogs...I once had a neighbor who over a period of a few years, had three different dogs. All three were killed by cars. I don't think any of them got it!

ADKJeff said:

It's quite fortunate that black bears are so fearful of humans and are such slow learners, otherwise some might eventually come to regard cars as "meals on wheels"!

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You should have visited Yellowstone ~40yrs ago. Bears lined the roads for handouts... There were incidents such as almost closed windows being ripped out, etc. (Trivial for a bear to hook its claws on the top of the glass and pull.)

More recently, bears in Yosemite will rip open cars (they are only covered in thin sheet metal, after all) if they see or smell anthing like food within. And sometimes they will rip open a car that simply looks like one that contained food.

Bears have a voracious appetite, have a very good sense of smell, reasonable eyesight, are very curious, are constant explorers, and are good at learning (and remembering) where to find food. They will learn (and on numerous occasions, have learned) to associate humans or our containers (eg packs, cars, garbage cans, etc) with food if we give them a chance.

A habituated bear is a dangerous bear and often ends up being killed by humans.

Doug

I remember reading about hunters on Kodiak Island that were being mauled by grizzlies as they approached the Elk or what ever they just shot. The bears became accustomed to the sound of gunfire and equated it with fresh food and would quickly get to the kill before the hunters did.

Oh, they get it

I think animals "get it" in different ways; ways we might not really get. But after owning many dogs and having interactions with animals in the wild, I believe they understand gut feelings more than we do. Ever notice how dogs might pick out the sketchy folks? How they know when you just had a bad day? Hell, they don't even speak human and they can feel sudden environmental change unlike we can. Many humans I have met don't "get it" even if you tell them.

I "talked" to a deer once in Dolly Sods Wilderness (WVA). I am not kidding.

I've seen no bears yet close to home in CT but someone in Eastern CT a couple of years ago had video of a bear at their bird feeder. Last Moose I saw was in MA, south of the MA pike in Blandford. (Between Wesfield & Otis) So I would expect to see some more moose sightings in CT soon.

My wife and I saw a bear and 4 cubs yesterday afternoon in our back yard. It was very exciting to watch them, but I was surprised that there were 4 cubs, the most I had ever seen before was 3. Is that very unusual, or is it more common than I thought?