Seconds after getting off the school bus, Jeannette Dardenne’s daughter was greeted by two black bears in West Hartford.
“She got off and I got a phone call, she said in a really calm voice, 'mom there is a bear in front of me,' and I said 'OK,' and she kind of paused and said 'there are two bears in front of me,'” Jeannette Dardenne, of West Hartford, said.
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WATCH HEREThe 13-year-old student stayed on the phone with her mom until the bears moved away.
“I think she was more like, 'it's beautiful', and I think it was also a lesson for her to recognize that there are wild animals here and you do have to take note,” Dardenne said.
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SIGN UP Dardenne said her family sees bears on a weekly basis.
“I’ve never once felt endangered from a bear,” she said.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) is tracking an increase in sightings. The bear population in our state is estimated to be between 1,000 and 1,200.
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“Right now, the entire state of Connecticut is bear country, we have bears in every town in Connecticut,” DEEP Wildlife Division Director Jenny Dickson said.
Dickson said the uptick in activity is coming from the bears trying to find food.
“Once cubs get more active, we start seeing a lot more activity with female bears because they can move further away from their den location, they can travel further distance with the cubs,” Dickson said.
DEEP said in most cases, if a bear is left alone, it will make its way to a more natural habitat.
However, Dickson said it's important to remove any bird feeders or garbage that can attract them.
“Bears that have lost their fear of people and bears that now start to think our yards and our home are places where they can find food can become dangerous bears, that is what we want to try to avoid,” Dickson said.
If you see a bear, you can report it here.
