From a bear on a popular trail to one getting into a home and grabbing a snack in the kitchen, the animals are a common sight in Simsbury.
Experts are trying to help clear up information about bears and what to do to help prevent encounters.
“The whole neighborhood is getting bears every night attending to their bird feeders and you name it,” said Dave Nagy of Simsbury.
On Monday, about 50 people turned out for a “Be ‘Bear Aware’” presentation.
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They learned about misconceptions with the animals, what to do if you run into one and how to prevent encounters.
“We just want to make people aware that we are as a community the first line to help us curb the bear activity,” said Debbie Clark, Simsbury's animal control officer.
The state Department of Energy & Environmental Protection said that while bears have been spotted around the state, the highest number so far this year has been in Simsbury with 351.
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Experts are urging people to store away things that can attract bears like bird feeders and garbage.
“The bears work on a risk reward system. So, if they take a risk and they get rewarded, they're going to come back. And these black bears are very intelligent. And so they know the trash route, they know the days,” said Clark.
Helpful tips include putting the trash can out right before pickup, placing ammonia-soaked rags inside and having a bear-resistant trash can.
One of those barrels helped stop a momma bear from getting into it as trash pickup was underway.
“The driver was beeping the horn and blinking the lights, she was not going to move. So she finally moved on to another trash can that wasn't locked,” said Scanlon.
DEEP said in a study, more than half of all bear encounters involved a dog usually off-leash and sometimes chasing the bear.
That many times led to the dog and the owner being hurt.
