Bears breaking into homes

[Improviser]

Anyone having this problem?

The article has some good recommendations about taking in bird feeders from March to November and keeping barbecue grills in a garage or shed when not being used.

Bear killed after breaking into Canton homes, officials say

A bear that broke into several Canton homes —some occupied — has been killed and a cub was also killed accidentally, officials with DEEP said.

www.nhregister.com

 

[HuskyHawk]

Black Bear took apart my rubbermaid shed in Vermont. Snapping some impressive plastic parts (which are hard to break because they aren't brittle). Demolished my Weber kettle grill too.

Haven't seen one in Mass, even though I'm in the woods. I keep my feeders out, but may stop because the squirrels are now chewing up the thing I store seed in outside. Chewing through the plastic. Tree vermin.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Black Bear took apart my rubbermaid shed in Vermont. Snapping some impressive plastic parts (which are hard to break because they aren't brittle). Demolished my Weber kettle grill too.

Haven't seen one in Mass, even though I'm in the woods. I keep my feeders out, but may stop because the squirrels are now chewing up the thing I store seed in outside. Chewing through the plastic. Tree vermin.

Tree vermin
gospel truth on that. i say 'put a bounty on each and every one of them,' and not becuz i have a half dozen or so gas cans where the nozzle, or even the thicker plastic of the body, are chewed up and thru.
many, many other reasons, including the quite common stories of folks gettin the inside of their house messed up by those varmints.
blast 'em, turn them into winter coats sez us. at least that would make them somewhat useful. all the rest of nature? our pals. squirrels? blast them.
spring and fall are especially happy times for us members of the anti-squirrel club, cuz their hormones make them even dafter than normal, and then u see them dead all over the roads cuz well, they think they're.... check that. pro tip: who really knows what a squirrel thinks? they don't even know what they're thinking. squirrely.

 

[Umami Zen]

Live in a townhome in Simsbury with a tree line separating our backyard and a golf course. Plenty of ground animals around to interest critters.. Bears/coyotes/bobcats/fisher cats/eagles to name a few.. Have had multiple visits from black bears including Mama and the cubs.. They enjoy raiding garbage containers on garbage day..

Have often wondered if you are walking your dog on leash--in your yard--And a bear is between you and your back deck.. How do you handle that? Not sure acting bigger than the bear or making a ton of noise is tremendously helpful. Any suggestions from Yarders with experience is appreciated as this is a very real potential scenario. Daily bear sightings in our neighborhood.

Edit: Have heard of but never seen myself mountain lion sightings in town.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Wouldn’t be too mad if a bear took out my grill at this point. Have a nice Weber until Mrs StllH8L8ner decided to make a burger for lunch while working from home, forgot to put the cover down and it started pouring rain so it made a mess underneath that she tried to clean but then broke the cap that holds the battery to the starter. It’s actually not bad and I can manage obviously but if I guilt her enough, I can parlay it into a new one for Fathers Day.

 

[huskypantz]

Bears have had a ton of arrests in the past couple of decades, not surprised if they're breaking into homes too.

Chicago Bears with the 11th most players arrested since 2000

Bears fans, some of you like to take shots at Detroit fans for supporting a team full of convicts, but the Bears have had six more players arrested since 2000 than the Lions have. (Insert best throw stones, glass houses type phrase here)

www.windycitygridiron.com

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Black bears are large, five times as strong as a human, can run 30 miles an hours, are tremendous climbers and have teeth and claws and inch or two long.

The bears eventually become accustom to humans. They lose their fear and then there are problems. It will stop being a rush and become a danger. Incidents between humans and bears will continue to increase as the bear population in Connecticut increases.

While the bears rarely kill humans, most incidents where humans are injured begin as skirmishes with dogs. These are wild animals. Be careful. And NEVER run away from a bear.

You’re telling me a bear is five times stronger than The Rock! My money is on The Rock

 

[Duncan Idaho]

A friend sent me a photo of a large black bear at his feeder. He lives in Meriden in the neighborhood between East Main St and Rte 66. Had a yellow tag on one ear.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Live in a townhome in Simsbury with a tree line separating our backyard and a golf course. Plenty of ground animals around to interest critters.. Bears/coyotes/bobcats/fisher cats/eagles to name a few.. Have had multiple visits from black bears including Mama and the cubs.. They enjoy raiding garbage containers on garbage day..

Have often wondered if you are walking your dog on leash--in your yard--And a bear is between you and your back deck.. How do you handle that? Not sure acting bigger than the bear or making a ton of noise is tremendously helpful. Any suggestions from Yarders with experience is appreciated as this is a very real potential scenario. Daily bear sightings in our neighborhood.

Edit: Have heard of but never seen myself mountain lion sightings in town.

Make a lot of noises and slowly back away. Don’t turn your back.

Also, mountain lions don’t live in CT. On rare occasions one travels down from Canada. But no mountain lions here natively .

 

[husky429]

Have often wondered if you are walking your dog on leash--in your yard--And a bear is between you and your back deck.. How do you handle that? Not sure acting bigger than the bear or making a ton of noise is tremendously helpful. Any suggestions from Yarders with experience is appreciated as this is a very real potential scenario. Daily bear sightings in our neighborhood.

Edit: Have heard of but never seen myself mountain lion sightings in town.

In that case, I'd just take a big loop to the front of the house. Not really quite sure what you're asking here.

The act big, be loud thing is usually for aggressive bears. You want to make some noise so you don't surprise them, but just keeping your space should be fine. Black bears aren't aggressive.

 

[CL82]

Live in a townhome in Simsbury with a tree line separating our backyard and a golf course. Plenty of ground animals around to interest critters.. Bears/coyotes/bobcats/fisher cats/eagles to name a few.. Have had multiple visits from black bears including Mama and the cubs.. They enjoy raiding garbage containers on garbage day..

Have often wondered if you are walking your dog on leash--in your yard--And a bear is between you and your back deck.. How do you handle that? Not sure acting bigger than the bear or making a ton of noise is tremendously helpful. Any suggestions from Yarders with experience is appreciated as this is a very real potential scenario. Daily bear sightings in our neighborhood.

Edit: Have heard of but never seen myself mountain lion sightings in town.

As long as it’s reasonably possible, I’d walk back away from the bear the way I came. That’s supposed to be your best bet. I have used it when I was between two bears in the dark. That’ll get your heart pounding.

I’ve also done the acting big thing; it helps, but I wouldn’t use it as a first option. Don’t underestimate the value of being loud, as bear will often get out of your way if you are.

 

[Palatine]

Black bears are very very rarely aggressive. They behave way more like a raccoon than a grizzly. Unless you provoke a momma bear with cubs, they won't harm you. Just keep your dog on a leash if you are hiking, and keep an eye on them if you don't have a fenced in yard. There is a bear family that lives in the woods behind my house so I've seen the momma with cubs quite often over the years, my dog will bark at them (from inside) but they just ignore him and keep wandering around.

I wish people would stop reporting sightings because some bears get killed for no reason at all. They're incredibly smart animals, they don't want to attack people. I'd be more afraid seeing an off-leash pitbull than I would be seeing a black bear

Yes, bears are rarely aggressive. They don't want to attack you. Pit bulls generally reflect their owners. Loving owners have loving dogs.

Bears are wild animals. Instinct directs their actions. Bears are hard wired to chase down anything that runs away from them. And that is often your first urge when you come across a bear. As bear/human interactions increase, and they will as the bear population rises, there are more opportunities for the event to go south.

I am simply urging caution. Do not become complacent around these animals. And absolutely avoid them if possible.

 

[huskypantz]

I have used it when I was between two bears in the dark. That’ll get your heart pounding.

This is a family message board, bud.

 

[Umami Zen]

Make a lot of noises and slowly back away. Don’t turn your back.

Also, mountain lions don’t live in CT. On rare occasions one travels down from Canada. But no mountain lions here natively .

Have talked to cops/animal control people.. They're here

 

[Ewekon]

Bridgeport. Home of no bears. Let's everybody move there.

 

[Northbound]

Have talked to cops/animal control people.. They're here

If they aren’t in upstate (Northern) NY they are not in CT. Someone is feeding you a line - you sound like my neighbor in Northern NY - “i’ve sen ‘em crossing the road, DEC reintroduced them, my uncle earl has a picture of one, etc., etc.”

I spend a lot of time in the woods in remote areas as do a lot of other hunters and i mean remote. Next to impossible to avoid all the trail cams today.

But believe what you want.

 

[karstenkibbe]

Bears were never spotted in Stamford, even north of the Merritt, until a few years ago. I had one stroll through my backyard in the spring of 2021. This was last month, up the block from Stamford High - downtown. In a city of 130,000. But I suspect someone is going to make a comment like, “See the NY plate on that car! Fairfield County is part of NY!”

 

[Dove]

I work on a screened in back porch and bears walk through my yard at least once a week. The most, that I saw, was 5 days in a row.

Did you ever get chickens?

 

[Dove]

You’re telling me a bear is five times stronger than The Rock! My money is on The Rock

It doesn't matter what you think.

 

[Umami Zen]

If they aren’t in upstate (Northern) NY they are not in CT. Someone is feeding you a line - you sound like my neighbor in Northern NY - “i’ve sen ‘em crossing the road, DEC reintroduced them, my uncle earl has a picture of one, etc., etc.”

I spend a lot of time in the woods in remote areas as do a lot of other hunters and i mean remote. Next to impossible to avoid all the trail cams today.

But believe what you want.

I am not a hunter but have a friend who is a Ct based hunter. He has motion sensor trail cams on his property and has seen evidence of them being there based on how they move at night and how they attempt to disguise a deer kill on his property. There have also been car accidents on the Merritt Parkway involving the deaths of mountain lions(evidence is there). I have also had discussions with local animal control officers and cops about this.

Believe what you want.

 

[Chantry1101]

Have often wondered if you are walking your dog on leash--in your yard--And a bear is between you and your back deck.. How do you handle that? Not sure acting bigger than the bear or making a ton of noise is tremendously helpful. Any suggestions from Yarders with experience is appreciated as this is a very real potential scenario. Daily bear sightings in our neighborhood.

Walk another direction and circle back around or wait for it to leave. Unless it's munching on your garbage, it won't stay for long. No need to try to scare it off in that situation. If it happens to have cubs with it, definitely go in another direction.

I live in Simsbury too, and see bears all the time, every time I've seen a bear that's not eating or protecting cubs, it runs when it sees/hears me.

There are no Mountain Lions in CT. People confuse Bobcats with Mountain Lions.

 

[CL82]

There are no Mountain Lions in CT. People confuse Bobcats with Mountain Lions

You are absolutely correct. It’s just that Connecticut has a enormous breed of bobcat that looks identical to mountain lions.

That picture is from a New York Times article.
Someone driving a Hyundai S.U.V. struck an animal on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, about 45 miles east of Greenwich. The authorities were called, and the animal was confirmed dead. More to the point, it was also confirmed to be a mountain lion.

Officials took the mountain lion, a 140-pound male, to a state Department of Environmental Protection office; officials said they believed that the dead animal was the same one that had been seen around Greenwich.

 

[Deepster]

Did you ever get chickens?

No. Thankfully. Chalk that up to a bored quarantine idea.

 

[karstenkibbe]

You are absolutely correct. It’s just that Connecticut has a enormous breed of bobcat that looks identical to mountain lions.

That picture is from a New York Times article.
Someone driving a Hyundai S.U.V. struck an animal on the Wilbur Cross Parkway in Milford, about 45 miles east of Greenwich. The authorities were called, and the animal was confirmed dead. More to the point, it was also confirmed to be a mountain lion.

Officials took the mountain lion, a 140-pound male, to a state Department of Environmental Protection office; officials said they believed that the dead animal was the same one that had been seen around Greenwich.

It was also confirmed through DNA testing that the mountain lion killed on the Wilbur Cross traveled to CT from North Dakota. The last native mountain lion in CT was killed over 100 years ago. I’m not saying that a few couldn’t come down from northeast Canada, breed and repopulate the area. But that low-percentage scenario is much more likely to happen in Maine or northern VT/NH than in CT. The annual mountain lion sightings down this way occurred a few months ago in New Canaan. The reporting party never has time to grab their phone to snap a pic, DEEP investigates and never find scat or hair. Always ends up being a bobcat or a big dog.

 

[CL82]

It was also confirmed through DNA testing that the mountain lion killed on the Wilbur Cross traveled to CT from North Dakota. The last native mountain lion in CT was killed over 100 years ago. I’m not saying that a few couldn’t come down from northeast Canada, breed and repopulate the area. But that low-percentage scenario is much more likely to happen in Maine or northern VT/NH than in CT. The annual mountain lion sightings down this way occurred a few months ago in New Canaan. The reporting party never has time to grab their phone to snap a pic, DEEP investigates and never find scat or hair. Always ends up being a bobcat or a big dog.

Yeah, you are right, there’s never any evidence, well, except for this big friggin mountain lion lying dead in a garage. (Apparently natures Apex predator is no match for the mighty Hyundai SUV.)

Frankly, I don’t care if he hitchhiked down from Poughkeepsie. He was still a mountain lion and he was still in Connecticut. Which pretty much puts to waste the notion that there can never be a mountain lion in Connecticut.

(FWIW, if I recall correctly I think there was a picture in the Middletown press a few years ago of another one.)

 

[ctchamps]

Make a lot of noises and slowly back away. Don’t turn your back.

Also, mountain lions don’t live in CT. On rare occasions one travels down from Canada. But no mountain lions here natively .

Saw one in Goshen in 2003. It was crossing 63 north of the town center. At first I thought it was a deer but then I realized the tail was long. Someone hit and killed a mountain lion with their car a year later on that road. There were spotting of mountain lions in Goshen and Cornwall after that accident.

The moose have been in the northwest part of the state before we moved there in 1986. From the map that @dennismenace posted it appears they are successfully spreading to other parts of the state.

I’ve had multiple encounters where I was close to black bears. The closest was a young bear that stole the trout I caught while I was fishing on Yellowstone Lake. Another time I was rounding the corner of my condo in North Carolina and a mother and her two frolicking cubs were heading in my direction. We were about twenty feet apart when I saw her. Backed up slightly and they just continued in their direction. Cubs scrambled up and down trees while they trailed her. It was a wonderful encounter.

The only time I’ve ever been frightened of bears was when I was hiking in Yellowstone and came across a mother Grizzly and her two cubs. She caught my sent and stood up on her hind legs. What a magnificent creature. We had eye contact with one another for about ten seconds. Fortunately instead of being mauled she went back to looking for food. I was less than a hundred feet from her. Really, really lucky with that encounter.

 

[CL82]

No. Thankfully. Chalk that up to a bored quarantine idea.

Probably for the best. It was an animal cruelty case waiting to happen.

 

[Deepster]

Probably for the best. It was an animal cruelty case waiting to happen.

If you define "animal cruelty" as a basket of fried chicken, you're probably right.

 

[Northbound]

It was also confirmed through DNA testing that the mountain lion killed on the Wilbur Cross traveled to CT from North Dakota. The last native mountain lion in CT was killed over 100 years ago. I’m not saying that a few couldn’t come down from northeast Canada, breed and repopulate the area. But that low-percentage scenario is much more likely to happen in Maine or northern VT/NH than in CT. The annual mountain lion sightings down this way occurred a few months ago in New Canaan. The reporting party never has time to grab their phone to snap a pic, DEEP investigates and never find scat or hair. Always ends up being a bobcat or a big dog.

This is correct.

 

[huskypantz]

Mountain lions in southern new england are extremely rare - essentially a wanderer every 7-10 years from the upper midwest makes it way to our area. Yes, one was hit and killed on the merritt. There is proof of two in massachusetts over the past 30 years. These are extreme cases. They are extremely reclusive but we'd hear of scat and occasional footprints. But there is not a breeding population in the northeast and the sightings are mostly bobcats.

MassWildlife has only confirmed 2 mountain lion reports in the last 30 years. Here's why reports are so tough to prove ...

 

[aburks41]

Saw one in Goshen in 2003. It was crossing 63 north of the town center. At first I thought it was a deer but then I realized the tail was long. Someone hit and killed a mountain lion with their car a year later on that road. There were spotting of mountain lions in Goshen and Cornwall after that accident.

The moose have been in the northwest part of the state before we moved there in 1986. From the map that @dennismenace posted it appears they are successfully spreading to other parts of the state.

I’ve had multiple encounters where I was close to black bears. The closest was a young bear that stole the trout I caught while I was fishing on Yellowstone Lake. Another time I was rounding the corner of my condo in North Carolina and a mother and her two frolicking cubs were heading in my direction. We were about twenty feet apart when I saw her. Backed up slightly and they just continued in their direction. Cubs scrambled up and down trees while they trailed her. It was a wonderful encounter.

The only time I’ve ever been frightened of bears was when I was hiking in Yellowstone and came across a mother Grizzly and her two cubs. She caught my sent and stood up on her hind legs. What a magnificent creature. We had eye contact with one another for about ten seconds. Fortunately instead of being mauled she went back to looking for food. I was less than a hundred feet from her. Really, really lucky with that encounter.

Grizzly's and mountain lions scare the absolute crap out of me. I would be terrified if I saw one. Black bears don't scare me at all though. My security cameras captured a young black bear walking around our yard on Tuesday. They are pretty friendly lol