Bear Spotted at Elmwood Community Center, West Hartford Animal Control Offers Advice
Audio By Carbonatix
Bear in a tree at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford on March 26, 2025. Photo credit: Alex Adams, HopefullyLevelHeaded Photos
West Hartford Animal Control posted a message on their Facebook page Wednesday morning with advice about being ‘bear aware,’ and later in the day a bear was spotted on the grounds of Elmwood Community Center.
Bear in a tree at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford on March 26, 2025. Photo credit: Ben Butkus
By Ronni Newton
Black bears sightings are relatively rare in the winter, when the animals engage in “winter denning” – not true hibernation, but a dormant state where they “do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate” unless disturbed or the temperatures remain mild with little snow cover, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection’s (DEEP) Wildlife Division – but come spring they are awake and active.
In the past few weeks, more and more West Hartford residents are sharing photos of bears on social media, and West Hartford’s Animal Control shared some advice on their Facebook page Wednesday morning – and then added a “part 2” after a bear was spotted in the area of the very busy Elmwood Community Center.
Bear in a tree at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford on March 26, 2025. Photo credit: Alex Adams, HopefullyLevelHeaded Photos
Ben Butkus, who lives on Burgoyne Street – just off South Quaker Lane and adjacent to the driveway of the Elmwood Community Center – said there was “quite a bear encounter” in front of his home at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 26.
“Plenty of neighbors gathered to take pictures before we were advised by Animal Control to head inside and give it some space,” Butkus said.
“One neighbor was walking his dog, which started barking at it, as did my dog from our yard, prompting it to try to climb a tree across the street from me. But that tree doesn’t have many low-hanging branches, so it ambled over to the tree in the photo,” he said. That tree is just outside his door, but on the property of the Elmwood Community Center.
The neighbor’s dog kept barking, he said, and the bear climbed further up the tree.
Bear in a tree at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford on March 26, 2025. Photo credit: Sharon Navin
Butkus said he called Animal Control and the West Hartford Police, and an officer was dispatched. “The bear climbed down right around when the officer arrived, and investigated some other front yards before heading back to the small patch of woods between our neighborhood and Trout Brook. Our neighbors have been texting each other all day with photos, and she’s still hanging out in those woods after having been briefly spotted near GastroPark,” he said.
Butkus said the Animal Control officer believes the bear is a “yearling that the mom likely kicked out to find her own way, and reassured us that they are highly unlikely to harm anyone or anything. Still, crazy to see them around in such a high-traffic area,” he said.
Bear in a tree at the Elmwood Community Center in West Hartford on March 26, 2025. Photo credit: Alex Adams, HopefullyLevelHeaded Photos
As of Wednesday, DEEP has recorded 32 bear sightings in West Hartford thus far in 2025. In 2024, there were more than 400 in town, according to a recently-released “State of the Bears” report.
Bears sightings have become much more common in West Hartford over the past several years, and in general their appearance is now only newsworthy when their antics involve strolling through the Center in the middle of the day, bouncing on a trampoline, crashing a child’s birthday party to pilfer the cupcakes, scaling the wall of the Governor’s residence, or actually entering a home.
“Let’s talk Black Bear. They are awake and very active in our community,” West Hartford Animal Control stated in their first bear-related Facebook post on Wednesday morning. The following advice, citing DEEP recommendations, was provided:
- The primary contributing factor to human-bear conflicts is the presence of easily-accessible food sources near homes and businesses.
- Remove food attractants such as bird food, garbage and pet food. NEVER feed bears intentionally!
- Store garbage cans in secure, airtight containers inside of a garage or other enclosed storage area. If that is not possible, put either ammonia or bleach in and around the cans.
- Supervise pets at all times when outside.
Just after noon, following the bear sighting in the Elmwood Community Center area, Animal Control added a second Facebook post that stated:
“If you see a bear in your yard or your neighbor’s yard, go into a safe place like your home or your car. Observe it from a distance. Do not run up to the bear to take pictures of it. They are somewhat fearful of humans. If you are driving and notice a bear, please do not stop in the middle of the road to take pictures. Also, do not get out of your car to take pictures. Observe from your car safely off to the side of the road. A frightened black bear will climb very high in a tree and will not come down until it feels safe to do so. So the less crowds taking pictures and standing below the tree the better for the bear. And please call DEEP to report the sighting (860) 424-3333.”
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There were two bobcats over by Shadow Lane and Knollwood yesterday during the day and at night from friends of mine. I’m sure some others got some good photos of them as well.