Bears are back in Connecticut

http://www.theday.com/article/20120826/NWS01/308269942?fb_action_ids=10100476763798745&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210100476763798745%22%3A10151026032356762}&action_type_map={%2210100476763798745%22%3A%22og.recommends%22}&action_ref_map=[]

Connecticut is estimated to have 400-500 bears now, almost all in the northwest corner.


Brian

Clickable link to article: Keeping track of black bears.

article said:

Return of the bears

Once extirpated in most of the Northeast, black bears have been re-establishing themselves in recent decades throughout their historic range as lands once clear-cut and turned into farmland have returned to forest.

Click to expand...

This is refreshing. I disllke dicussing these issues with people who think the animals have been here right along and that we are now building in their habitat.

In years past I thought of bears being present mainly in the northwest corner of CT, but I've seen more stories of sightings all the way down to the coast lately:

http://madison-ct.patch.com/articles/bear-b-1-charges-house-in-north-madison-deep-plans-to-trap-may-have-to-euthanize-bear-video#youtube_video-11157495

I'm not in CT, but I've been finding a decent amount of bear sign in the woods in Westford, MA lately. I'm not sure if its because I know more things to look for, or if there's just more of them, but a few people in the last few years have been reporting sightings. Mostly bird feeders getting raided. I believe there was a sow with a pair of cubs this spring, even.

I'd much prefer to see sign of them in the woods than hear about them learning all the easy ways to get food from people. They're not dangerous until they stop being wary of people. Luckily the town has been doing a pretty good job of letting people in the areas of the sightings know how to keep from feeding them so hopefully they'll stay out in the woods where they can be safe.

One in Madison (southeast CT) may need to be put down.

People may think it's okay or fun to leave their bird feeders out all year, but that's a dangerous game.

I work in Windsor CT (pretty much central CT) about 10' from I-91 and we pretty routinely have bears walking right by the facility. I don't know if it's the same one each time (because co-workers see them or they're just seen on the security camera) but co-workers will oftentimes come in and say, "I saw that bear again this morning in the parking lot..." The bear(s) has been seen enough that I don't think the dinks that I work with even feel threatened by them anymore.

We also get a lot of red tails (and I've seen an eagle) that like to snatch up squirrels in the parking lot and eat them in the trees on our tiny campus. That's kind of cool too.

Oh, and I live in Western MA (Easthampton MA) and not only do we have bear sitings in our yard but we had a bear climb up the side of our house to get to the bird feeders that are on the THIRD STORY! That was pretty crazy. I've seen them in the blueberry bushes on our property but I never thought in a million years that they'd go for birdfeeders that high up. One day, however, I saw a raccoon on the third story balcony and I figured that it was only a matter of time until we got a black bear up there. Sure enough, a few weeks later, black bear shimmies up the side of the house to get at my bird feeders... I'll put them back up in the winter.

-Dr. Wu

Third floor.... Silly Old bear (The Madison bear was tagged in Windsor)

With the Madison siting, we'll have to tell the cub scouts to be better with their food, while still rare in the SE part of CT, with us camping in State Parks in the area, (Gay City, Devils Hopyard - where an mt lion was allegedly seen, Cockaponset - where we heard coyotes, etc.) bears a possibility. Madison is about as far from the MW hills as you can get.

Being many kids, we've scared the k-9s away but other than the size of the group, a bear might find graham crackers & marshmellows poorly put away to be a tasty treat.