A dog happily rested in the grass in West Hartford and did not realize a bear was behind him.
A bear strolled through a backyard in West Harford on Tuesday as a pet dog was lounging on the grass, unaware of what was going on behind him.
Tracy Odlum said her Golden Retriever, Finn, was “very chill and unbothered by the bear strolling through his backyard” on Tuesday evening.
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WATCH HEREOdlum was sitting on the back patio and she was stunned when she noticed a bear coming from the back corner of the house, but she didn’t want to alarm Finn.
When she noticed that her dog caught a scent of the bear and stood up, she immediately called for him go inside like he was going to get a treat.
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SIGN UP The bear then left the yard.
Odlum said Finn never turned around and didn't see the bear.
She doesn’t know if Finn would have chased the bear if he saw it because her goofy Golden “makes friends with everyone and everything,” she wrote in an email.
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The black bear population in Connecticut has been increasing since the early 2000s and it's expected to continue growing, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
They said, if you see a bear on your property you can either leave it alone and wait for it to leave or make loud noises from a safe distance to attempt to scare the bear away. After the bear leaves your property, remove anything that might have attracted it to the area.
They also recommend removing bird feeders between late March through November.
You can read more recommendations on living among bears in the state here.
You can report a bear sighting here.
DEEP has a map of wildlife sightings online and you can check to see where bears, bobcats and moose have been seen by town here.
