Westchester (3S) Bear Attack

[2BuckBizCT]

https://patch.com/new-york/bedford/child-attacked-bear-westchester-neighborhood

[corydd7]

It's going to start happening in Orange County soon. So many houses being built, animals are loosing places to live.

Must have been 30 deer behind a youth football field in Middletown a week ago. And there were games going on lol

 

[dbHunterNY]

lot of woods despite not really rural. you wonder if it was just bear's opportunity or if certain things may have caused it.

[Bucksnbows]

Not the dolphin of the forest!  That's what the anti bear group here in NJ calls them.  Black bear attacks on humans are on the upswing everywhere that species lives, and more and more encounters are happening in densely populated areas like Westchester.  Hope the kid is okay!   

[2BuckBizCT]

Yup. Figure NY keeps them somewhat in check by hunters killing 2,000/year. CT has no season. Last year CT had 67 home invasions by bears and a couple of attacks. Hopefully CT gets a season soon. I had a nice one under 15 yards with the bow last year. He had zero fear even with me yelling at him.

[blackbeltbill]

12 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

Not the dolphin of the forest!  That's what the anti bear group here in NJ calls them.  Black bear attacks on humans are on the upswing everywhere that species lives, and more and more encounters are happening in densely populated areas like Westchester.  Hope the kid is okay!   

  Right! I already wrote that this past Spring in Ringwood  State Park in New Jersey while Turkey Hunting in late April,I had ,I believe 2 medium  size Black Bears trailing me. I had to circle around a 1/4 mile and take a steep hiking Trail out. 

   10 seconds up,I look down and there is one of the Bears staring up  from where that Trail ascended upwards.  If he started up,I was going to put the Bead of my Shotgun on his nose. 

  Just too many Black Bears in North New Jersey and Orange County,NY. Unarmed Hikers especially  need to be careful and keep checking their backtrail.

[mowin]

Wishing the best for the youth. 

Not saying this is what happened in this case, but I know several people who willingly feed the bears on their deck. They think it's great.

Then I point out to them, what happens when the grandkids are out eating a ice cream and yogi walks out of the woods and decides he wants it? Is it the bears fault, or yours that your kids got attacked? Because all you've taught your kids is that it's ok to feed the bears and most likely Jr isn't going to be afraid of the bear. 

Edited August 22 by mowin

[2BuckBizCT]

Update on the story > https://abc7ny.com/child-injured-bear-attack-westchester-county/13684893/

Bear cub and cops shot it.

[Otto]

New York Times

 

Bears Are Running Amok in Connecticut. State Gives OK to Shoot Them.

A new law allows residents to kill bears in certain circumstances. But some residents want a full-fledged bear hunt, allowed in almost every nearby state.

• Share full article
•  

 

 

A state wildlife biologist used a syringe at the end of a pole to inject a tranquilizer in to a young black bear that had climbed a tree in West Hartford, Conn., in 2018. The bear was relocated.Credit...Rick Hartford/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service, via Getty Images

 

 

By Amelia Nierenberg

Reporting from New Haven, Conn.

Aug. 24, 2023, 3:00 a.m. ET

Earlier this month, Sara Grant was inside her home in Sherman, Conn., a small town near the New York border. Her 2-year-old was upstairs. Her newborn daughter was in her arms.

Suddenly, she saw her 4-year-old son, Gavin, running up the driveway, sobbing. A bear was close by.

“I screamed louder than I had ever screamed before,” she said.

Ms. Grant’s golden retriever, Jake, leaped forward and chased the bear off the property, driving it into the woods.

“He got multiple treats, an ice cream cone,” Ms. Grant, a 33-year-old stay-at-home parent, recalled. “He definitely got extra belly rubs that night.”

 

 

Human-bear interactions have increased dramatically in Connecticut in recent years, as the state’s population of black bears has multiplied and their geographic range has expanded. This year alone, bears in Avon crashed a parade and broke into a bakery. Elsewhere in the state, they have even invaded houses.

The danger was underscored this week in nearby Westchester County, N.Y., when a bear attacked a 7-year-old boy who was playing in his yard. (On Wednesday, health officials said the bear tested negative for rabies.)

Worried about public safety, Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed into law a measure that allows residents to shoot and kill bears under certain circumstances: if a person “reasonably believes” a bear could seriously hurt a person or a pet, or if a bear is trying to enter a building with humans inside.

It also prohibits intentionally feeding potentially dangerous animals, like bears, on private property.

Connecticut is the only state in the Northeast with a significant bear population but no bear hunting season. The new law, essentially a stand-your-ground law for bear encounters, was a modest step that has drawn critics from all sides.

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Those who advocated instead for a bear hunt say the new law did not go far enough. They argue that bears must be taught to fear humans for their own protection, and that dead bears deter live bears from populated areas.

Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter  Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox.

“It’s about altering the behavior of our bears and how they perceive humans,” said Jason Hawley, the leading bear biologist at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, adding, “Bears don’t have a negative association with humans. In fact, I’d argue that they have a positive association with humans.”

 

Others say the law allowing people to kill bears in self-defense is dangerous, and nearly unenforceable. They are skeptical that law enforcement officials will be able to determine if people truly felt threatened before shooting.

They argue that residents should instead be taught to bear-proof their garbage cans, to put out bird feeders only in winter and to meticulously clean their barbecue grills.

Remove the buffet, the thinking goes, and discourage the customers.

“Hunting bears is unsafe, it’s not necessary and most importantly, it’s not going to reduce interactions between people and bears,” said Annie Hornish, the Connecticut director for the Humane Society of the United States, which is part of the CT Coalition to Protect Bears.

 

 

Connecticut is hardly an outlier. Bear sightings have risen in parts of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, California and beyond, about 50 years after hunting restrictions and restoration efforts took effect, reviving devastated populations nationwide.

Bears have also expanded their geographic ranges. In many states, they are roaming closer and closer to cities.

As a result, many states are now debating how best to manage bears. And bear hunts are returning to states that had previously prohibited them, including in New Jersey, which re-legalized a limited cull last fall. Gov. Philip D. Murphy had suspended the hunt on state property in 2018, but then bear sightings and aggressive encounters increased.

In the suburbs across Connecticut, bears who venture close to people’s homes are largely looking for food, wildlife experts say.

They fish leftovers out of bins, which humans helpfully leave in a row outside on collection days. Some tip over cans, teaching their babies to forage. Others prefer bird-feeders.

 

 

“Bears tend to go for the easy food,” said Deborah Clark, the animal control officer in Simsbury, a town of about 24,000 people, which has recorded 517 bear sightings so far this year.

But a few bears have also attacked humans. Last month, a bear bit a 65-year-old man in Litchfield. (The bear ran away.) Last fall, one mauled a 10-year-old in Morris. (That bear was killed.)

It was this spring, after a bear bit a 74-year-old woman in Avon, that Gov. Lamont signed the law allowing people to shoot and kill bears when they are in danger.

“It started out as a nuisance, but this is no longer a nuisance,” said State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, a Democrat who represents Avon and other areas.

 

 

“We have anthropomorphized them, and they are not Yogi,” she said. “That’s the problem.”

 

 

Image

 

Bear encounters have become increasingly frequent in Connecticut in recent years. Credit...Hartford Police Department, via Associated Press

 

 

Connecticut is home to 1,000 to 1,200 bears, according to the state environmental agency, and last year, bear home entries reached a new high: 67 reported invasions and dozens more attempts.

By comparison, Maine — where bear hunting starts in August and continues through November — has more than 30,000 bears, but incidents of bears breaking into homes are rare.

Some Connecticut residents are simply annoyed by the situation.

“I used to see them once a year, if even that,” said Phil Kayan, 35, who lives in Canton. “Now, I feel like we see them once a week, if not more.”

Bears play on Mr. Kayan’s patio furniture, and he picks up after their trash feasts, strewn across his lawn.

“They’re more of a nuisance than anything,” he said.

If you see a bear, scientists recommend, make a loud noise to let it know you are there, and keep your distance. If it starts coming toward you, wave your arms, shout and back away. (Do not run. The bear is faster.) Bear spray is an effective deterrent, although it can be unpleasant for humans, too.

 

 

In Simsbury, a group of friends called “The Ladies of the Lane” give each other a heads-up via text message every time they see a bear. But it’s becoming futile, said Laura Ferraro, 33. There are just so many notifications coming in.

She said she has tried all the normal bear-scare tactics: Air horns, car horns, even banging pots and pans.

Firecrackers are the only things that scare them off. She said her family keeps a stash near the backyard. When they see a bear, they light one and throw it onto the patio.

“You just have to be bear aware at all times,” she said.

[2BuckBizCT]

33 minutes ago, Otto said:

New York Times

 

Bears Are Running Amok in Connecticut. State Gives OK to Shoot Them.

A new law allows residents to kill bears in certain circumstances. But some residents want a full-fledged bear hunt, allowed in almost every nearby state.

• Share full article
•  
•  
•  

 

 

A state wildlife biologist used a syringe at the end of a pole to inject a tranquilizer in to a young black bear that had climbed a tree in West Hartford, Conn., in 2018. The bear was relocated.Credit...Rick Hartford/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service, via Getty Images

 

 

By Amelia Nierenberg

Reporting from New Haven, Conn.

Aug. 24, 2023, 3:00 a.m. ET

Earlier this month, Sara Grant was inside her home in Sherman, Conn., a small town near the New York border. Her 2-year-old was upstairs. Her newborn daughter was in her arms.

Suddenly, she saw her 4-year-old son, Gavin, running up the driveway, sobbing. A bear was close by.

“I screamed louder than I had ever screamed before,” she said.

Ms. Grant’s golden retriever, Jake, leaped forward and chased the bear off the property, driving it into the woods.

“He got multiple treats, an ice cream cone,” Ms. Grant, a 33-year-old stay-at-home parent, recalled. “He definitely got extra belly rubs that night.”

 

Human-bear interactions have increased dramatically in Connecticut in recent years, as the state’s population of black bears has multiplied and their geographic range has expanded. This year alone, bears in Avon crashed a parade and broke into a bakery. Elsewhere in the state, they have even invaded houses.

The danger was underscored this week in nearby Westchester County, N.Y., when a bear attacked a 7-year-old boy who was playing in his yard. (On Wednesday, health officials said the bear tested negative for rabies.)

Worried about public safety, Gov. Ned Lamont recently signed into law a measure that allows residents to shoot and kill bears under certain circumstances: if a person “reasonably believes” a bear could seriously hurt a person or a pet, or if a bear is trying to enter a building with humans inside.

It also prohibits intentionally feeding potentially dangerous animals, like bears, on private property.

Connecticut is the only state in the Northeast with a significant bear population but no bear hunting season. The new law, essentially a stand-your-ground law for bear encounters, was a modest step that has drawn critics from all sides.

Editors’ Picks

Can a New Genre of Eco-Thrillers Inspire Climate Action?

My Daughter’s Ex-Mother-in-Law Won’t Stop Calling. Help!

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Those who advocated instead for a bear hunt say the new law did not go far enough. They argue that bears must be taught to fear humans for their own protection, and that dead bears deter live bears from populated areas.

Sign up for the New York Today Newsletter  Each morning, get the latest on New York businesses, arts, sports, dining, style and more. Get it sent to your inbox.

“It’s about altering the behavior of our bears and how they perceive humans,” said Jason Hawley, the leading bear biologist at the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, adding, “Bears don’t have a negative association with humans. In fact, I’d argue that they have a positive association with humans.”

 

Others say the law allowing people to kill bears in self-defense is dangerous, and nearly unenforceable. They are skeptical that law enforcement officials will be able to determine if people truly felt threatened before shooting.

They argue that residents should instead be taught to bear-proof their garbage cans, to put out bird feeders only in winter and to meticulously clean their barbecue grills.

Remove the buffet, the thinking goes, and discourage the customers.

“Hunting bears is unsafe, it’s not necessary and most importantly, it’s not going to reduce interactions between people and bears,” said Annie Hornish, the Connecticut director for the Humane Society of the United States, which is part of the CT Coalition to Protect Bears.

 

Connecticut is hardly an outlier. Bear sightings have risen in parts of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, North Carolina, California and beyond, about 50 years after hunting restrictions and restoration efforts took effect, reviving devastated populations nationwide.

Bears have also expanded their geographic ranges. In many states, they are roaming closer and closer to cities.

As a result, many states are now debating how best to manage bears. And bear hunts are returning to states that had previously prohibited them, including in New Jersey, which re-legalized a limited cull last fall. Gov. Philip D. Murphy had suspended the hunt on state property in 2018, but then bear sightings and aggressive encounters increased.

In the suburbs across Connecticut, bears who venture close to people’s homes are largely looking for food, wildlife experts say.

They fish leftovers out of bins, which humans helpfully leave in a row outside on collection days. Some tip over cans, teaching their babies to forage. Others prefer bird-feeders.

 

“Bears tend to go for the easy food,” said Deborah Clark, the animal control officer in Simsbury, a town of about 24,000 people, which has recorded 517 bear sightings so far this year.

But a few bears have also attacked humans. Last month, a bear bit a 65-year-old man in Litchfield. (The bear ran away.) Last fall, one mauled a 10-year-old in Morris. (That bear was killed.)

It was this spring, after a bear bit a 74-year-old woman in Avon, that Gov. Lamont signed the law allowing people to shoot and kill bears when they are in danger.

“It started out as a nuisance, but this is no longer a nuisance,” said State Rep. Eleni Kavros DeGraw, a Democrat who represents Avon and other areas.

 

“We have anthropomorphized them, and they are not Yogi,” she said. “That’s the problem.”

 

Image

 

Bear encounters have become increasingly frequent in Connecticut in recent years. Credit...Hartford Police Department, via Associated Press

 

 

Connecticut is home to 1,000 to 1,200 bears, according to the state environmental agency, and last year, bear home entries reached a new high: 67 reported invasions and dozens more attempts.

By comparison, Maine — where bear hunting starts in August and continues through November — has more than 30,000 bears, but incidents of bears breaking into homes are rare.

Some Connecticut residents are simply annoyed by the situation.

“I used to see them once a year, if even that,” said Phil Kayan, 35, who lives in Canton. “Now, I feel like we see them once a week, if not more.”

Bears play on Mr. Kayan’s patio furniture, and he picks up after their trash feasts, strewn across his lawn.

“They’re more of a nuisance than anything,” he said.

If you see a bear, scientists recommend, make a loud noise to let it know you are there, and keep your distance. If it starts coming toward you, wave your arms, shout and back away. (Do not run. The bear is faster.) Bear spray is an effective deterrent, although it can be unpleasant for humans, too.

 

In Simsbury, a group of friends called “The Ladies of the Lane” give each other a heads-up via text message every time they see a bear. But it’s becoming futile, said Laura Ferraro, 33. There are just so many notifications coming in.

She said she has tried all the normal bear-scare tactics: Air horns, car horns, even banging pots and pans.

Firecrackers are the only things that scare them off. She said her family keeps a stash near the backyard. When they see a bear, they light one and throw it onto the patio.

“You just have to be bear aware at all times,” she said.

Getting closer to a CT season!

[Otto]

I hope it's not some tragic incident that makes it happen.

[Bucksnbows]

4 minutes ago, Otto said:

I hope it's not some tragic incident that makes it happen.

We had one fatality a bunch of years ago now here in NJ when a Rutgers student and his buddies ignored warnings from two hikers leaving a preserve that warned them not to continue as there was an aggressive bear on the trail.  The couple are friends of mine, and the place Darsh Patel, the student, was killed was where I grew up hunting, fishing and trapping.  Upon encountering the bear with food in their daypacks, the 5 students faced what was likely a bluff charge and they panicked.  Two groups of two hikers each ran in two different directions while Darsh ran off on his own.  He was dragged down, killed, and partially eaten.  The bear was found on his body and was killed.  We have had several other attacks of lesser violence or at least outcome in addition to that fatality.    

I know NY had a young child killed at a Jewish summer camp near South Fallsburg, also many years ago now.   

[2BuckBizCT]

38 minutes ago, Otto said:

I hope it's not some tragic incident that makes it happen.

we have been close in CT. a couple of attacks on kids last year, but they survived. 

[Bucksnbows]

36 minutes ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

we have been close in CT. a couple of attacks on kids last year, but they survived. 

We do a lot of river restoration in CT, and all the folks I talk to there complain about the increase in bears they are seeing or have hit their garbage cans or bird feeders.  Hunting remains the only answer. I see CT antis spewing the same lies as here in NJ. 

[2BuckBizCT]

22 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

We do a lot of river restoration in CT, and all the folks I talk to there complain about the increase in bears they are seeing or have hit their garbage cans or bird feeders.  Hunting remains the only answer. I see CT antis spewing the same lies as here in NJ. 

Yup. the only way we will get a season is if there's an unfortunate event where someone dies