Bears Where? Black Bears and Other Wildlife Neighbors in Connecticut

If you’re moving to Connecticut or relocating from one part of the state to another, consider your neighbors.  I don’t only mean the human variety - think about your wild neighbors.  They won’t affect property values but they will impact your lifestyle if you are in an area inhabited or visited by them.

Bears in particular have made a comeback in our state- and they’re not just being spotted in highly rural areas.  In the last year alone, I’ve seen two bears (in Avon in my parents back yard), one coyote, and one fox (both in South Windsor) - this coming from a 33-year Connecticut native who hasn’t ever seen any of these animals up close.

Black Bear Photo: Cheryl Johnson

Personally, I’m happy to see coyotes, bears, fox, and wild turkey (oh, my) but they are wild animals and not everyone may welcome them.  Here are some interesting numbers on bear sightings. 

From October of 2005 to October of 2006, there were almost 2,000 black bear sightings in Connecticut.  Granby, Simsbury and Avon top the list with the most sightings, more than 100 each.  A little more surprising is that West Hartford had more than 20 sightings, Bloomfield had 40 and even Waterbury had 14.  And I’m sure these numbers are vastly under-reported because not everyone, myself included, thinks to call when they’ve seen a bear.  We think of pulling out our camera phone to snap a shot to send it to our friends.

Here are some tips on how to prepare for bear visitors. http://dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/Wildlife/problem/bearprob.htm

Recently, we had a case of a rabid coyote biting a person all over the news.  As a result of this, many have speculated that the coyote population has grown.  The Department of Environmental Protection claims that this isn’t necessarily true as coyotes will move from one location to another so the number of sightings isn’t an accurate reflection of the number in our state.  Although rarely aggressive towards people, coyotes and foxes can and will attack pets. 

Here’s what you should know, according to the Department of Environmental Protection: http://dep.state.ct.us/whatshap/Press/1998/coyofox.htm

While doing some homework for this article, I even came across moose sightings.  I’ve only seen moose in Maine (and on “When Animals Attack”).  But, moose have been sighted in northwest and northeast Connecticut, too.