Bear Sighted In Rocky Hill Neighborhood: Police

ROCKY HILL, CT — The Rocky Hill Police Department is warning residents of a bear reported on the east end of town Tuesday evening.

The ursine interloper was last seen in the area of Belden Lane, according to a police post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

According to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, there have been 7,225 black bear sightings in Connecticut this year. Not counting Tuesday night's visitor, only two have been spotted in Rocky Hill.

Rocky Hill police officials are warning residents not to leave garbage outside, and avoid contact with the bear if they spot it.

As bears have become more habituated to man-made structures and human behavior, Connecticut residents can expect to see more of them season after season, state wildlife biologists warn.

To minimize the odds of waking up to find a bear browsing your fridge, DEEP officials suggest residents hide away their bird feeders and trash cans from their yards from late March through November.

Not only do the sight and smells of backyard bird feeders attract bears, but they reward them for coming close to human dwellings. That same principle applies to trash cans that aren't tightly covered. DEEP biologists advise adding ammonia to your trash to make it unpalatable.