Rise in Black Bear Sightings in the Farmington River Valley

NEW BRITAIN- What a Canton man anticipated to be a normal hike along a local trail, ended up being anything but that when he found himself within 20 feet of a black bear.

“I couldn’t believe it. My first instinct was to freeze so I didn’t startle the bear,” Justin Ludwig said. “I had so many thoughts racing through my head in that instant.”

Over the last two to three decades, bear encounters have become more common for suburban and even urban residents of Connecticut, particularly in Simsbury and other towns in the Farmington River Valley.

From Nov. 4 of last year to Oct. 31 of this year, there have been 540 reports of black bear sightings in Simsbury and an even higher number of reports in Avon totaling 647, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

Other towns in the valley, including Farmington and Canton, have also seen a higher number of black bears than most other Connecticut towns, with 699 sightings combined.

This increase of wildlife taking up residence closer to humans has raised questions throughout the state about what should be done.

Dave Anderson, a Bristol resident, said he was walking his dog when a bear came down out of a tree ten feet away from him. Anderson said it startled him but the bear went on its way without incident.

“I am fine with them if they are fine with me, as long as I know they’re around and they’re not aggressive towards pets or me,” Anderson said. “It’s all part of natural balance.”

But Ludwig, who lives close to the Simsbury town line, said he is dissatisfied with the way his town, and neighboring towns, handle wildlife encounters.

Ludwig said he doesn’t believe physical action should be taken against these bears, but he is a strong proponent of educating the public on how to detect their presence and avoid them.

“I don’t think any bears should be killed for rummaging through trash or stumbling upon our civilization,” Ludwig said.

The DEEP provides information to local town governments about ways to decrease the chances of attracting bears, Paul Rego, a DEEP wildlife biologist and bear expert, said.

There is a policy the DEEP put in place that dictates how it responds to different encounters. If a bear is simply spotted, the DEEP provides the person education on how to reduce the chance of conflict with the bear and how to discourage it, Rego said.

“But if the bear does certain types of property damage, we would trap and tranquilize the bear,” Rego said. “We don’t move bears so we’d keep it on the same property. We do take aggressive bears very seriously, and in those cases, if we can identify a bear that has broken into a house or is aggressive, we would euthanize it.”

One of the main reasons that bears are relocating to human areas is because of the easy access to food, Rego said.

“The two most common ones are bird feeders and garbage,” Rego said. “There should be steps taken to educate people to not have available food lying around. Those steps could even include pressing regulations to make it illegal to make food available to wild animals, including bears.”

The amount of wildlife, and specifically bears, living in the midst of humans, is also in response to an improved habitat over the long term, Rego said.

“We now have quite a bit of forested habitat in the state as opposed to 100 years ago,” Rego said. “Some of this habitat also just so happens to be occupied by houses, but bears are adaptable and can live near people. We’ve seen the [bear] population grow pretty rapidly and we only expect that to increase as time goes on.”

Matt Reney, a Bristol resident who has seen multiple bears in his neighborhood, said he feels comfortable with these animals living around him.

“The vast majority of negative interaction between humans and animals seem to be caused by people not respecting the animal’s space or not reading the warning signs from the animal,” Reney said. “I think we just need to educate the public as far as what to do and what not to do to attract the animals. I also think people need to be held accountable when it comes to approaching these animals to get a closer look or a better picture.”

Reney has photographed several bears on his driveway and in his yard, but said he has not had any scary encounters with them.

One Simsbury resident of a year and a half has watched a couple bears move down her flag pole, but she said she doesn't mind these animals living in close proximity to her. Her one concern is people leaving food out specifically for this wildlife.

“I’ve found from living in different areas that some elderly people put out food for wild animals. I’ve seen potatoes, and even meat patties on lawns before,” Katherine Hart said. “This meat is not near a tipped-over trash can or included with wrappers, so that to me is a problem.”

Hart said bears will not stay in one area for very long if they’re not getting food so she encourages others to be mindful of where they discard their food.

Another common concern for residents is bears in the presence of children.

“I think the bears are cute, but I get a little on edge with them in the yard, especially with my grandchildren trying to play,” Joan Lindquist of Bristol said.

Lindquist said she will continue to feel comfortable with bears living in close proximity to her until they become aggressive and give her a reason to not feel this way.

The DEEP uses a color-coded system to indicate the year the bear was tagged. These ear tags help biologists to track bear movements.

It is a common misconception that a tagged bear in Connecticut is a problem bear. Most tagged bears have not been caught as problem bears, but rather as part of a project to research the state’s bear population, according to the DEEP website.

Each colored tag has a three-digit number code, with the last digit indicating the year and the first two numbers indicating the sequence in which it was caught. This year, bears receive green tags when spotted.

Rego said his biggest piece of advice for people when it comes to bears is to try not to attract them in the first place.

“People need to make sure that they’re not attracting bears close to their homes. Then beyond that, if people do see bears they should take steps to scare them off and in some cases just keep a safe distance from them,” Rego said. “If you notice a bear in your yard do not approach it or go near it.”

The DEEP website offers a black bear sighting report form where residents can fill out the date and time of the observation as well as the location of the bear and whether it had already been tagged.

“I love that we live in this new technological age where we have the ability to stay on top of issues like this,” Ludwig said. “At the end of the day, we have to develop a mutual respect so that both people and bears can live peacefully together.”