In Ross Township, young bear snacking at a backyard bird feeder is 'not anything to worry about' — but don't feed or approach it
A wandering young bear is gaining notoriety in Ross Township after being caught on video snacking from a backyard bird feeder.
Backyard bear caught on camera: Watch the video above.
Ross Township police shared the video to Facebook to alert residents, writing, "Bear sighting. This little guy was seen grabbing a snack in a resident's backyard this evening in the area of Highland Pines Drive."
Pittsburgh's Action News 4 spoke with the woman who recorded the bear.
"I mean, I have a biology degree, so I thought it was kind of cool. But I don't really want him to hang around because I don't want to have to worry about it. Everyone had kids and dogs and my dogs are little," said Marisa Geubter.
Geubter was about to let her dogs out her back door Monday evening when she saw the bear just feet away snacking at her bird feeder.
"I yelled for my husband because I needed somebody else to see it. And he goes, "Take a picture," Geubter said.
She said word of it spread quickly from her neighborhood on Highland Pines Drive and across social media.
"I needed to let the dogs out, so he cracked the door and he said, 'Hey, bear.' And the bear just like stopped, looked at him, and then continued to eat. So then he stepped out the back door and then the bear ran up into the woods. And apparently one of our neighbors just saw it again, so it's still around," Geubter said.
Another Ross Township resident shared a new video, recorded late Tuesday afternoon in the woods behind his garage on Main Boulevard. In the video, the bear can be seen casually loping through the greenery.
"We're hoping that he finds a new home soon," Geubter said.
Ross Township police told Pittsburgh's Action News 4 there were additional sightings Monday and Tuesday near Sewickley Oakmont Road. Police are also in touch with the Pennsylvania Game Commission about the bear.
State Game Warden Madison Pugh of the Game Commission spoke with Pittsburgh's Action News 4.
"It's certainly not anything to worry about. Bears are optimistic feeders, just like humans are. If they're hungry, they eat, bird feed being one of their favorite snacks," Pugh said.
Watch Pittsburgh's Action News 4's interview with Pugh below:
Now, in bear mating season, "We're seeing a lot of yearlings that have gotten kicked away from mom that are trying to find a place in the world. So, they're just traveling, looking for opportunistic snacks, like I said, the bird feeders. Lots of times they just move to more suitable habitat," Pugh said.
She says Allegheny County is not a prime bear habitat — but they may use it as a corridor to get to a better-suited location.
"We do keep track of the bears, so we're aware of the bears that are in the area. In case they do pose any sort of conflict with humans — meaning getting too close, getting too familiar — where we might need to take action . But in this case, we do have a lot of bears that move through Allegheny every year. (It) doesn't cause any concerns, doesn't cause any problems," Pugh said.
She cautioned not to approach the bear and not to feed it.
Both Pugh and Ross Township police shared these web links for the public to learn more:
- The Pa. Game Commission's black bear information page
- BearWise, a site that Ross Township Police says "provides information to help homeowners, businesses and communities learn to coexist with bears"