A Bloomfield homeowner found unexpected visitors inside his kitchen on Wednesday. A group of black bears, a female bear and her two yearlings, got inside and it was all caught on camera.
The female bear wound up being put down by DEEP EnCon officers.
“When I looked around and saw it, I was like ‘no.' We’re going back up,'" said Yahmar Hall.
Hall didn’t expect to find three bears in his Bloomfield home when he heard rustling in the kitchen.
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“All that time, they were in the kitchen banging and making a lot of noise. I heard stuff getting thrown over and all sorts of other stuff,” he said.
The three bears, included a female bear and her two yearlings, with the female bear caught on surveillance camera entering his property on Maple Edge Drive. Hall says he’s seen bears pass through his yard, but nothing like this one.
“They pass through at the front, just walk across the lawn. Usually it’s at night, never in broad daylight,” he said.
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A nearby neighbor took photos of the group of black bears before they broke into Hall’s home. He says they got inside through the backyard.
“They basically went over this. The mother came through some other way. They came over this and went up the stairs and then went through the screen door. The sliding door was left open,” Hall said.
He says police eventually came and attempts were made to scare the bears, but the female bear was waiting for one of her yearlings.
“They were sitting there for a while and then the other one came out and made its way there and got up and started walking, going across the lawn,” Hall said.
DEEP officials say this comes as more and more break-ins are being reported across Connecticut. They say this year alone, nine break-ins have been reported through May, compared to five last year during the same time period.
DEEP biologists say bears are getting used to being around humans and are attracted to trash cans and bird feeders for food.
“First the bears get really comfortable being around people. They’re not as startled by noises. they’re more comfortable walking through our yards and then they start to find food rewards,” Jenny Dickson, DEEP Wildlife Division director, said.
They say once a bear breaks into someone’s home, it becomes a public safety risk.
“They’ve got it ingrained in their minds that houses are okay. Going into houses with people inside is okay. It’s a good place to get food and we’re not going to be able to change that behavior,” Dickson said.
DEEP says this means a bear would have to be put down, like the female bear in Bloomfield.
“It’s not something we, anyone likes to do. We don’t set out wanting to do that, but unfortunately sometimes we have to do that to protect public safety,” Dickson said.
They also say relocating a bear habituated with humans to more isolated areas is not a practical option.
“It’s going to be in an already occupied territory. The resident bears are probably going to drive it off and it’s going to end up in a neighborhood again, causing problems again,” Dickson said.
Now, they’re asking homeowners to help by not leaving out trash cans for too long and taking down bird feeders.
“Trying to make sure that we don’t have those food attractants out there that the bears are going to smell and be drawn into our yard for,” Dickson said.
Hall says he’s sad to see the female bear put down by DEEP EnCon officers, but understands why they have to take action.
“The behavior that I saw from them was that they aren’t afraid of humans anymore and that’s not something to have in a residential area like this,” he said.
DEEP is encouraging people who spot bears to report it to them online. That can be done here.
