SIMSBURY, Conn. — Bear sightings have become increasingly more common here in Connecticut, especially among suburban areas.
To educate the public on coexisting with bears, the Simsbury Police Department, together with the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and Simsbury Animal Control, held a "Be Bear Aware" forum Monday evening at the Henry James Middle School.
The forum included a presentation from a DEEP wildlife biologist, which provided facts about the growing bear population and tips on what to do if a bear is spotted. Weatogue resident Nancy Jaquith said she had a close encounter with a bear at her condo complex.
“I saw a mom and two or three cubs just last week,” said Jaquith.
More bears are popping up all over the state and they’re getting more comfortable around humans.
“Just a screen between me and them and boy did I get up fast and shut that door,” recalled Jaquith.
This presentation was held in a town that last year at this time had the most bear sightings in the state. According to DEEP, there were 370 reported bear sightings in Simsbury between January and June of 2023.
“Well there’s a lot of bears in the valley, and there’s a lot of habitat out this way,” explained Deb Clark, the Simsbury Animal Control officer.
“So they just kind of roam and navigate in their home range and it just seems like Simsbury seems to be the spot this year,” said Clark.
Biologists said bears are attracted to natural foods, shelter, water, and safe nesting sites. An added impeccable sense of smell makes a home with bird feeders or easily accessible trash a bear magnet.
“We have a town ordinance in town for bird seeds, not feeding them from April to November,” said Clark. “The second is obviously the garbage. Bears are pretty intelligent and they know when garbage day is, so we ask that people look into getting a bear-safe garbage bin."
Experts said adding ammonia to trash bins can also repel bears, along with waiting to leave trash out closer to pick-up time. Even with preventive measures, it’s likely to eventually catch a glimpse of one of the estimated 1200 bears roaming around the state.
“The closest we saw was when they were out on our patio. We just shut the door,” said George Jaquith of Weatogue.
“When you do see a bear, we ask you just to scare them away. You holler, you bang pans. They’re not big, scary animals that are going to come out and hurt you. They do have cubs, we have to respect wildlife,” said Clark.
DEEP encourages Connecticut residents to report bear sightings, which can be done easily online by visiting this page. A link to their wildlife sighting viewer can be found here.
Kaelee Collins is a multimedia journalist for FOX61 News. She can be reached at kcollins@fox61.com. Follow her on X, and Instagram.
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