What to do if you see a bear (and why you don’t see more)
Black bear sightings in the Pittsburgh area last week rattled a few nerves, but neither man nor beast were injured. No property damage was reported, but several unsecured garbage bags didn’t make it through the night.
In the early morning hours of April 7, Pittsburgh Police Zone 3 officers spotted what was believed to be the same bear in Overbrook and Mount Washington. Police saw it on Groveland Street, and it was later sighted on Lupton and Sweetbriar streets.
KDKA-TV reported the bear lumbered past a doorbell camera on St. Joseph Street on the South Side Slopes at about 3 a.m. Two hours later, it was recorded on cellphone video meandering across Shaler and Sweetbriar streets in Duquesne Heights. Police said the state Game Commission and Animal Care and Control had been advised.
On Friday, Robinson police posted a social media notice alerting residents that a black bear had been spotted off Country Club Drive. The post said the
state Game Commission had been notified and “for everyone’s safety, it would be best if families keep their distance and try to avoid contact [with the bear].”
Both of the urban bruins quietly slipped out of sight and haven’t been seen since.
“That’s not unusual. That’s typical bear behavior,” said Patrick Snickles, information and education supervisor for the Game Commission’s Southwest Region.
“They’re here because they are yearlings that have been dispersed by their moms. They are hungry and looking for food,” he said.
Black bear sows give birth every two years. When they come out of hibernation with their new cubs, they force their older offspring out of the den.
“It’s a little early. It usually doesn’t happen until late spring and early summer, but they kick the adolescents out,” said Mr. Snickles. “The young females usually set up territories adjacent to their mothers, but the males can run off quite a ways. They’re like lost teenagers who just got booted out of their homes. They don’t know where to go. They’re just roaming around looking for a place to call their own.”
Black bears are extremely adaptable but skittish. Once thought to be creatures of the high mountain country, bears are now known by biologists to be not averse to living just out of sight of human neighbors.
“It’s not the norm, but we’ve had bears that will hibernate under people’s porches,” said Mr. Snickles. “Generally, they won’t bother you. Generally they’re afraid of you. If they see you first, you probably won’t even know they were there.”
Allegheny County’s hilly terrain, with housing plans separated by steep wooded ravines, can provide bears with ample space to live without being seen. Numbering barely 5,000 in Pennsylvania in 1980, the black bear population grew to an estimated 20,000 following a regulated hunting program. The Game Commission controls bears by monitoring their status in individual wildlife management units and raising or decreasing the harvest as needed. In recent years, bear hunting seasons in urban Allegheny County areas have been expanded to reduce its bear population.
“People can help by cutting off their food source,” said Mr. Snickles. “First, don’t feed them. Bears are scavengers when they can be, so seal garbage can lids and store the cans indoors. Bring bird feeders and pet food containers in at night.”
If you see a bear, back away and give it space.
“Mothers will defend cubs and any startled animal might present a danger,” he said, “but the bears we have here are generally docile, secretive animals that just want to be left alone.”