Bears more plentiful, and sociable, with spring weather

SALISBURY — It is that time of year when the world awakens from its winter slumber — and that includes the 300 to 500 black bears that reside in the state of Connecticut.

Black bears generally forage for natural foods like berries, nuts and skunk cabbage, but will always take an easy meal such as a Dumpster full of goodies.

Paul W. Rego, a wildlife biologist with the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said there has been an increase in reported bear sightings and bears hit by cars in Connecticut over the past 20 years.  

The bear population has been steadily rising due to forest regrowth, a decline in land clearing due to a decrease in farming and the fact that it is illegal to hunt them in Connecticut, according to Rego.

“The bears are responding to the increase in habitat and we know they have a high rate of survival and reproduction,†he said.

Irvin Leff and Ilene Tetenbaum of Taconic had a surprise visit from a mother black bear and two cubs on April 25. The bears were attracted to the peanuts Leff and Tetenbaum had left for the squirrels and birds.

“The bears showed up a couple of hours after I threw the peanuts out there,†said Leff. “They eventually left, after we made enough noise. We’ll never do that again.â€

Gloria Mitten, a resident of Noble Horizons in Salisbury, has only seen one bear so far this season. She said she and her neighbors usually see bear tracks in the mud and two or three big ones every year, but seldom see a mother with cubs.

Mitten said a bear stopped by to visit recently and a small gray cat chased it up a tree and then sat at the bottom with its paw extended skyward.

“It’s such a strange thing to be sitting at my desk and see a bear right there,†she said. “It’s something everybody would love to see because they really are just beautiful.â€

Over the border in Millerton, Joseph Arroyo of Silver Mountain reported a recent visitor to his backyard. It was a big black and apparently a very at-home bear, tagged by the New York Department of Environmental Conservation 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.

There have been 2,579 reported bear sightings in Connecticut from May 4, 2009, to May 3, 2010, according to the DEP Web site. Much smaller and gentler than grizzly bears, black bears are seldom aggressive toward humans.  Males can grow up to 450 pounds and females up to 250 pounds.

No one in Connecticut has been injured by bears in the past decade, Rego said.

Rego and his team have reportedly tagged more than 100 bears, and regularly track 20 radio-collared female bears to collect information about survival, reproduction, range of movement and habitat use.

If you see a bear in the wilderness from a distance of 50 yards or more, you might be able to observe it or make noise to scare it off. However, if it doesn’t appear to be afraid, back away and find a different trail, Rego said.

He added that the best thing to do when seeing a bear in your yard is to get to safety. In order to keep bears at bay, store garbage in a shed or in a tight container and remove bird feeders from late March until November.

To report a bear sighting, call the DEP at 860-675-8130 or fill out a report form on the DEP Web site by going to ct.gov/dep and clicking on black bears under “updates & advisories†on the right.