It's Bear Season In MA: Here's What To Know

FRAMINGHAM, MA — Early Tuesday morning, Framingham police posted an alarming message in capital letters on Twitter and Facebook warning residents about a "brown bear" seen traipsing through thickly settled neighborhoods in the Saxonville area.

"SEVERAL REPORTS OF A BROWN BEAR IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS. FIRST REPORTED IN SPRUCE ST AREA AROUND 0645 HOURS. NEXT [REPORTED] ON ELEANOR RD AT 0652 HOURS," the message said. "ANIMAL CONTROL AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICE HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED."

About 48 hours later, Ashland resident Chamara Eranga Silva Sandaradura posted a video on Facebook of a black bear wandering through a subdivision just south of the Market Basket shopping plaza.

It's not a suburban bear invasion. It's just bear season.

In springtime, black bears across the nation are emerging from their winter torpor (a slightly lighter version of hibernation) and searching for food. Suburban backyards offer some nice snacks for the hungry bears, and that means a higher chance of encountering the creatures.

RELATED: Moose Map Shows Sightings, Deaths In Massachusetts: See Your Town

Here's what to know about black bears, and how to prevent unwanted encounters.

Black or brown bear?

Black bears are the only species that live in Massachusetts. But black bears can be brownish, which can be confusing because grizzly bears are also called brown bears.

The larger, scarier grizzly (brown) bears do not live anywhere nearby — the closest population is 2,300 miles away in Yellowstone National Park. Grizzly bears were almost hunted to extinction by settlers and trappers in the 18th and 19th centuries, but their historic range only went as far east as Missouri and Iowa.

Black bear territory

In Massachusetts, black bears have historically been at home mostly west of Worcester. But the bears have been seen farther east in recent years, with some appearing in communities east of I-495, including Wayland, Sudbury, Marlborough and Hopkinton. State estimates say there are about 4,500 black bears statewide.

What do they want?

Food. In spring, bears are feasting on emerging plants, but they switch to ripe berries in summer, and then tree bark and nuts in autumn.

Apart from natural food sources, the omnivores will eat pretty much anything that smells good. Backyard bird feeders and trash are two major food sources. A single bird feeder or suet block can provide thousands of nourishing calories — and bears will go for it even if they need to walk across your deck.

Other food sources include pet food, grills that haven't been cleaned, compost, bee hives and sometimes backyard chickens.

Fed bear, dead bear

It might be thrilling to see a bear in your yard, but it's very dangerous for them to get used to humans. Bears that spend a lot of time in urban areas are at higher risk of being hit by a car or dispatched by police.

Look no further than the story of Mink, a New Hampshire bear who kept returning to a town to feast on doughnuts supplied by a local resident. Mink was hit and killed by a driver last summer, leaving three cubs behind.

Are they dangerous?

Experts say black bears, in most cases, will try to avoid contact with humans. Out in the woods, they use their powerful noses and keen hearing to get far away long before you'd ever see them. They will almost always do the same in an urban area.

Black bears can be dangerous. In very rare cases, humans have been killed by them — about 61 since 1900. If you encounter one on a trail, it's best to slowly back away while talking in a calm voice. Unlike grizzly bears where the advice is to play dead, experts advise fighting back if a black bear does attack. And black bear mothers are not more likely to attack if cubs are nearby — just the opposite, according to the North American Bear Center.

In your backyard, hazing the bear by making loud sounds can be an effective deterrent.

What now?

The best way to keep yourself and bears safe is to remove food sources from your backyard, and keep your distance if you see one. As the season moves on, so will the bears.

"A bear’s first response to something unusual is to leave," according to the state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. "If a bear is feeding in an area where it doesn’t belong, such as your yard, on a porch, or in a dumpster, step outside, yell, and make lots of noise. The bear will usually leave — accompanied by its young."