Residents in the Mountain Road/Lovelace Drive/Faxon Drive/Arlen Way have seen bears on at least a weekly basis, most recently on Thursday morning, and the DEEP confirms that bear sightings are increasing in suburban and residential areas such as West Hartford.

By Ronni Newton

Bear sightings have become commonplace in some areas of West Hartford, including near school bus stops, raising concern among some residents who understand that the bears are going to stay in the neighborhood as long as food sources remain available.

Deena Shefsky lives on Faxon Drive and said she has become the unofficial “bear patrol” for the neighborhood. She emailed her neighbors around 8:45 Thursday morning. “The bear is currently on Lovelace (bordering Albany Avenue) in the midst of the streeet paving – heavy trucks, lots of noise, tons of people. Clearly these animals are not spooked,” she wrote.

Shefsky said she returned home this morning after dropping her child off at school. “They’re repaving, and there are something like 15 trucks on my street, and everyone was looking around and on their phones. The town engineer said the bear was in someone’s shed,” Shefsky said. “Clearly this animal is not afraid of noise because they were using a jackhammer,” she said.

“This animal walked a path that crossed two bus stops,” Shefsky said. Middle school children waiting at the stops at the corner of Faxon and Lovelace and the corner of Avondale and Mountain had been picked up about 10 minutes before the bear walked by, she said.

Shefsky has lived on Faxon since 2006, and said that the prevalence of bear sightings has become much more frequent since last summer. “This summer it’s been at least once or twice a week,” she said.

A bear was also photographed on Cranbrook, on the other side of Mountain Road, earlier this week.

Resident Isabella O’Brien said that her husband Dan O’Brien (owner of überdog, Dog Playcare and Hotel on New Park Ave.) was walking their 8-year old yellow lab on Cranbrook Tuesday around 5:45pm when he spotted a black bear. “Our dog began barking and lunging at the bear who was only about eight feet away. Luckily the bear turned the other way and walked down to the creek in the direction of Still Road. He has been spotted off of Mountain Road a few times, but this is the first time we’ve seen him in people’s yards,” Isabella O’Brien said.

Although no one is certain if the sightings are of the same bear or multiple bears, a DEEP tag is visible in several of the photos.

Shefsky said she received reports of a bear on Plainfield Road last week. Plainfield is on the east side of Mountain Road, south of Lovelace Road and near Norfeldt Elementary School.

Some residents immediately think to report bear sightings to the police, but West Hartford Police really aren’t equipped to handle those calls. “We really only handle wildlife as a threat or an immediate danger to the public,” West Hartford Animal Control Officer Helen Cavacuiti said.

When calls come in, they ask if the bear (or other animal) is doing anything threatening, or if a pet has been attacked. Unless that’s the case, Cavaciuti said, the sighting should be reported to the DEEP. “They’re the primary responder, and they will make the determination if action is needed,” she said.

The DEEP does keep a record of wildlife sightings, and wants residents to contact them when a bear is spotted. They will take down the information by phone at 860-675-8130, and even have an online reporting form available. The DEEP reports that there have been 81 reported bear sightings in West Hartford in the past year.

“We continue to provide guidelines,” said DEEP Wildlife Biologist Paul Rego. Those guidlines are available on the agency’s website. But Rego stressed that the most important recommendation is: “Not to have food sources that attract bears or keep them near homes.”

Bird feeders and poorly-stored hosuehold trash are the most common food sources in neighborhoods, Rego said. West Hartford’s sturdy plastic trash barrels are not a deterrant. “It’s not uncommon to find those tipped over and food strewn around,” said Rego.

So what should people do about the bears? Rego said the most imporant thing is to remove the food sources. “Not much can be done to drive the bear away if it’s being fed. If food is not available, they typically will move on,” he said.

Cavacuiti gives out the same advice. “There’s no need to feed the birds in between April and November,” she said. There’s plenty of food available. Both she and Rego advise residents to keep trash barrels stored in the garage if at all possible, and bring them out right before pickup.

“It’s extremely rare for black bears to be aggressive to humans,” Rego said. If you do see a bear, his advice is not to approach it and to try to scare it away. “Make loud noises from a safe distance, banging pots and pans, yelling, using an air-powered boat horn.”

Dogs generally are a deterrant to bears, said Rego, and also can be an early warning to residents that a bear is nearby. However, for the safety of pets he said they should be supervised, kept on leash or indoors.

“It’s an increasing trend. The bear population is spreading and we’re seeing more in suburban and residential areas,” said Rego. According to Rego, the DEEP will take action only if the bear causes certain types of significant property damage, is in a highly urban area where it poses a risk to public safety and traffic, has entered a home, has showed true aggression, or has attacked a domestic animal.”

The population of bears that will cause such problems is “extremely small,” said Rego. “It’s not necessary to take preemptive action to every bear that walks by a house.”

Some residents don’t think that’s enough. An Apple Hill resident, who asked that her name not be used, took photos out her window last weekend of a bear that she said was about six feet away and had climbed a fence to get into her backyard. “We have no birdfeeders in our yard and our trash is secure in the garage,” she said.

“If it had been a few minutes later [from the time the photo was taken], I would have been outside in the same area watering plants or with our dog, a seven pound, white toy poodle who barks at everything. Or, as we had been the day before (Saturday), outside in the hammock, which can be seen in the photo, playing volleyball/badminton or on our deck,” the resident said. She’s also concerned about the bear’s proximity to bus stops, and about sightings in the wooded area at the edge of the Norfeldt Elementary School playground.

She called the DEEP after the sighting and was able to describe the bear’s tag, which appeared to belong to a bear that has been reported by others.

The Apple Hill resident would like to see the bear “carefully moved to a better location,” but said she has been told by several DEEP representatives that it can’t be relocated unless it causes injury or damage. “That’s what really concerns me. Until it really does something we can’t do anything. We feel like they’re just waiting for something to happen.”

Although Lovelace and Faxon are near the MDC reservoir, and Shefsky said there is a ravine behind her yard, she said this is not a rural area in the middle of the woods. “The bear was adjacent to Route 44. My neighbors across the street back up to Albany Avenue,” Shefsky said.

In May 2013, the DEEP euthanized a bear that was found in the same neighborhood, after an Avondale Road woman kicked at the bear as it tried to follow her dog into her house and received lacerations on her leg. That bear had a documented history of aggressive behavior. (Click here for video from NBC Connecticut from the 2013 incident.)

Shefsky plans to remain on bear patrol, alerting her neighbors when the bear is sighted. “If I can say nothing else to my neighbors it’s ‘Take down the birdfeeders,'” she said. “And walk your dogs on leash.”

Shefsky has also made sure that her children know to yell loudly and get to a safe place if they see a bear. “We have a new ‘dog ate my homework’ excuse around here.” If a child is late to school, it’s “Bear walked by the bus stop.”

The photos below have been submitted by multiple West Hartford residents.

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