The Metrowest Daily News continues to keep tabs on Southborough’s resident black bear. Seems like the little guy is enjoying his time in town and has decided to stick around for a while. On Thursday he was reportedly back in the downtown area near the cemetery:
Police said the bear was seen at about 7 a.m. near 11 Cordaville Road by a caller, but left before police arrived. Police have asked those who see the bear to remain in their homes and let him move on of his own accord.
You can read the full account in this article by the MWDN.
I’m still hoping someone snaps a photo or some video of the bear. If you do, send it my way (mysouthborough@gmail.com).
He’s just looking fo a place to watch the Bruins game tonight. GO B’s !!!!
What are we waiting for with these bear sightings? Are we waiting for someone’s pet or a resident to be attacked? At the next bear sighting the state animal control officers should track the bear down, anesthetize it and return it to it’s proper habitat.
A 200 pound bear is not cute, it’s dangerous.
I agree with John above, I find myself wondering where the bear is when I’m outside with my kids or my dog. Why wait until something bad happens when we can prevent it by relocating the bear?
I’m guessing our public safety officials would like nothing better than to safely relocate the bear. And I know it sounds ridiculous, but tracking an animal completely comfortable in the wild, able to run more than 20 mph through the underbrush, is decidedly not an easy thing to do. I like the idea of buttoning down our trash/birdseed/etc., and let this animal decide for itself that Southborough isn’t its best dining cart. Relocating this particular bear probably doesn’t solve the long-term problem, anyhow.
Curious: Does our Police Dept own a tranquilizer gun? [Insert “and if so…” joke here]
If catching it was that easy it would have been done by now. He’s elusive for a reason – he doesn’t like people. He’s afraid of them, as well he should be. Your best bet is to follow the guidelines set forth by the police and Mass Wildlife, and not worry about it too much – he’ll move on once he’s figured out there’s no more bird feeders to raid.
Also, I thought these little tidbits might be enlightening (from Mass.gov Wildlife section):
“In a Yosemite study, fear was the human behavior most likely to elicit an aggressive response by black bears, followed by neutrality and a close approach. However, human aggression was least likely to stimulate aggression, suggesting that meek behavior may actually increase the chance of bear aggression.”
“Offensive or “predatory” or “predaceous” attacks on humans by black bears do occur but are very rare. During the period from 1900-2008, there have been about 61 human fatalities from black bears, more than 80% of which were predatory in nature. Of these, 5 have occurred in Alaska, 13 in the lower USA, and the remainder in Canada. Non-fatal predatory attacks are more frequent but still rare.”
Mr Ellis,
Your statistics aren’t necessarily comforting. The fact is black bears can and do result in fatalities.
M. Ellis’s stats are pretty comforting to me. In 108 years there have been a grand total of 61 human fatalities from black bear attacks in all of North America.
In the 13 years between 1990 and 2003 there have been 756 fatalities in the United States due to lightning strikes: http://www.lightningsafety.com/nlsi_lls/fatalities_us.html
I’m not particularly afraid of getting struck by lightning, and much less scared of being eaten by a bear. Especially when shouting “BOO” will make the bear run away (not sure if that works with lightning).
There is a specter haunting Southborough.
No, not our lone lost bear. No, not lightning either. I mean bees and wasps, those deadly insects that can turn up in anyone’s yard, even in anyone’s house. Bee stings kill more Americans in a year than puny black bears have managed to kill in a century.
Don’t even get me started on automobiles. Think of the 40,000 lives we could save each year if we hunted all of those death-traps down.
By the way, I’ve found monkey noises effective at running off bears. Seriously!
I always assumed the bear thought, “This guy’s crazy; I’m outta here.”
This bear is a juvenile, almost certainly a male, and he doesn’t weigh anything close to 200 lbs. If we panic and kill him, we’ll find he weighs about half that.
If he gets too comfortable around people and their garbage/bird feeders he will become a nuisance and this will end badly. There is an old adage “A fed bear is a dead bear”
“There is a bear in the woods. For some people, the bear is easy to see. Others don’t see it at all. Some people say the bear is tame. Others say it’s vicious and dangerous. Since no one can really be sure who’s right, isn’t it smart to be as strong as the bear? If there is a bear….”
Here is an animal I would be afraid of and a bit more respectful of, too.
For once I agree with you.
With all due respect to the bear that may or may not be lurking around town, 60 – 80 trucks per day carrying dirt and fill are about to start a non stop 3 month trip down Southville Road. Is anyone out there bothered about this?