Black Bear Wandering Around Vernon

VERNON, CT - A black bear has been wandering around Vernon for a couple of weeks, an animal control officer said Wednesday.

Animal Control officer Craig Segar said the animal control division has received several calls about the bear.

The first was on June 9, he said.

Segar said he saw the bear himself on Interstate-84. The bear seemed like it wanted to cross the highway, but gave up, he said.

The bear was sighted along the Route 30 corridor on Campbell Avenue, on Discovery Drive and on the Rails to Trails system near Sacred Heart Church.

A group from the Vernon Greenways Volunteers was able to get a picture of the bear on the rail trail, Segar said.

Segar said he also saw the bear in a tree in a yard on Discovery Road.

State environmental officials have been trying to locate a bear that attacked a goat in Ellington this week. Segar said it is "impossible" to guess if it is the same bear as the one seen in Vernon. He did say Vernon's visiting bear seems much more polite.

"The bear has been pretty nice to Vernon," he said. "The bear is just looking for some food."

Segar said the main courses so far have been bird feeders and beehives. One resident reported to animal control that the bear was able to get under his outdoor grill, remove the drip pan and, "drink it like a beer."

Segar said to report a bear sighting, go to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Web site.

Vernon Animal Control can be reached at 860-870-3558.

There have been more than 4,000 bear sightings in the state over the past year, according to statistics released by the DEEP. Fifteen communities in the state have had more than 100 sightings in the past year., according to the chart.

See the chart here.

DEEP officials said there about 700 black bears that live in Connecticut.

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