MILLERTON — Joseph Arroyo of Silver Mountain had a visitor at his backyard recently. It was a big, black and apparently very at-home bear, tagged by the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) with the number 49 on both his ears.
“He was so beautiful,� Arroyo said in his e-mail, adding that he watched the bear “hang out� in the yard for about 20 minutes.
According to the DEC, “The black bear is New York’s second largest land mammal; only the moose is larger. An average adult male weighs about 300 pounds while females average about 170 pounds.
“Black bears are omnivorous, eating grasses, berries, fruit, nuts, seeds, insects, grubs and carrion, as well as human sources of food like corn, honey, bird seed, trash and pet food when available,� the Web site stated. The bear that appeared at Arroyo’s house helped himself to the bird seed in the bird feeders.
Although black bears can actually have coats that vary widely in color in other parts of the country, nearly 100 percent of the black bears in New York are jet black in color with a brown muzzle, just like the one who visited Arroyo.
“Once thought to inhabit only large forests, over the past two decades, black bears have been expanding their range throughout New York and can now be found in a variety of habitats including developed areas,� the DEC Web site states. “New York’s 6,000 to 7,000 black bears are great travelers and occasionally pass through virtually every upstate county of our state.�
