Bear Facts

My wife was in her garden and she and 2 daughters were working with the dog, trying to train her to listen and come back when called. The garden is in the back corner of the yard bounded by the neighbors rear fence and the woods of a wonderful state park.

Something moved in the woods and my wife immediately thought it was a deer. It was roughly the right size but moved slower. The dog charged into the woods, there was a short growl and the dog came right back with a cut on her ear. The first assumption was that she had ran into a bush or branch.

They tended to the dog's ear and then Mom headed back to pick up her gardening tools. I was around the other side of the house when she started yelling "Bear! Bear! ..." She was more excited than panicked. We could hear it moving up the hill in the woods but it was difficult to get a clear view with the leaves filled in now.

I called the park ranger and left a message and then called the town police. They took my name and number, told me they would notify DEP and told me to stay indoors. I called the neighbor whose abundant bird-feeding is likely what attracted the bear and she said she was thinking about stopping for the summer. She said she would go out and clean up the bird seed just over her fence. I told her I'd go out to watch her back.

It was pretty dark when we got out there. I heard her clapping near her fence and we both heard something plod off through the woods. She called to me to see if I could see the bear. I told her I couldn't but she said that she could and told me where she thought it was relative to my position. I shined my flashlight into the woods at that spot and there was a bright light-blue eye reflecting back at me. She told me she was done and we both went back inside.

We talked by phone later and she noted that the local college's huge construction project had forced a lot of wildlife to look for new homes. This may not be the end of this story...