MANCHESTER – Bears have been spotted in residential as well as business areas recently.
Crestwood Village V resident Anna Marie Reilly told The Manchester Times of her recent experience. “My property backs up to the wildlife management area and the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). The mother bear walked on the back of my property that touches the woods. She was walking on the line and she was by herself.”
Reilly continued, “it was at dusk. My neighbor called me up and said there is a bear outside your back door. She said it is a big bear so don’t go outside. I brought my frying pan and wooden spoon and went out to the back yard and started banging on them in hopes the bear would go away.”
“I saw from the corner of my eye that there were two baby bears in the woods moving so there were three altogether that I know of. The mother bear and two babies. Someone said they saw a third baby but I’m not sure,” the resident added.
She said the bears have been seen on Medford and Sunset Road between Portsmith and Quincy Road at night but not so much in the morning. “The mother was looking for food and for me it was the bird food. She didn’t go through any garbage cans.”
The resident contacted the EPA hotline “and they said they’d do a report and passed it along to somebody else and I asked if they were going to tag them and they said if they can find them, they’ll do a tag. I told others that regularly walk in the woods to be aware there are bears there. Now I know it is a female (bear) and they can be dangerous.”
She was concerned that her fellow Crestwood Village V neighbors who walk small dogs could be pursued by the mother bear seeking food for her cubs. She also noted that trees in the area had been removed months ago.
“There were big trucks that came in and cut down all these trees. That was New Jersey Power and Light and they said it was because of the volume of people that they were going to put in cell phone towers on that property,” Reilly said.
She spotted a bear once again this past weekend. “It was at 4:37 in the morning and I got out my frying pan and spoon to make some noise outside. I know they are hungry but I was concerned about my neighbors,” she told The Manchester Times.
Safety Precautions
If you encounter a bear don’t feed them. Their behavior can be unpredictable. Remain calm and make the bear aware of your presence by speaking in a loud, assertive voice, singing, clapping your hands or making other noises while keeping your distance from them and making sure the bear has an escape route.
Avoid direct eye contact which could be perceived by them as a challenge and never run from a bear. Instead, slowly back away. If you are with someone else, stay together as a group.
To scare the bear away, make loud noises by yelling, banging pots and pans if available and knocking rocks together. Make yourself as big as possible by waving your arms and if you are with someone else stand close together with your arms raised above your head.
Homeowners should clean grills and all utensils thoroughly and never put food or food residue in campfires or fire pits. Place garbage in airtight containers or bear resistant containers and don’t burn garbage or bury it.
Also keep dogs on a leash and remove leftover food after your dog has finished eating. Never attempt to feed or approach a bear as it is very dangerous and may result in personal harm or harm to others.
