When I was a very little girl my favorite book was Bears by Ruth Krauss published in 1948. The illustration on the left is an example of that story. On the right is a photo posted by our police last month of a bear running down on Main Street. What is cute in a story book turns quite disconcerting on an urban heavily traveled road. What is going on in Connecticut these days?
Once prolific throughout New England, brown bears had been wiped out by the 1800’s from both hunting and lack of their habitat now being farmed. But as farming declined here the forests returned, the perfect habitat for the bears, and they also came back. So far, so good. Then people saw the lovely woods and decided they were a perfect place to escape urban congestion. They built houses among the trees and moved in with their cars and children and dogs and cats and BIRD FEEDERS.
The people still thought bears were cute. “After all, they were here first. Can’t we just coexist in peace?” The bears saw a great way to eat without using their natural tedious methods. “Feeders and grills and picnics and kitchens—oh my.”
People insist on feeding birds and leaving their kitchen doors open. Last year bears entered 67 homes. Many bears no longer fear people. No person has died yet though some have been attacked. No easy solution seems in sight as debate rages over allowing the limited bear hunting that exists in every other nearby state.
Stay tuned. Neither the bears nor the suburbanites are ceding any territory.
Saved By Words 
It’s a shame that such a cute animal can potentially be dangerous and even deadly. We no longer have any bears in Britain, they died out completely around 600AD, probably due to being hunted for fur and meat. Or killed because they took livestock.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for that fun fact. I never knew that and assumed they were still hiding out somewhere. Maybe I was confused by Paddingon Bear, my daughter’s childhood favorite!
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The bear group consists of wild animals. The humans supposedly have common sense, but they don’t use it.
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It’s a mystery to me that people here don’t know that. Perhaps since I grew up in Oregon I have always respected the potential danger.
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I think you are the first person I know that grew up in Oregon.
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I’m quite happy there aren’t any here!
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I was fine until one was running down our road. This spot was never bear friendly having been inhabited for centuries.
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We have plenty of bear in Washington state, and they’re also seen more and more in residential areas, especially that are near the woods. I’ve not seen any bear in our neighborhood (thankfully) but we were visited by a bobcat over the winter which was scary enough!!
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We definitely have bobcats too. A neighbor spotted one on her backyard camera and was similarly taken aback.
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