Wilton Resident: 'There Was a Black Bear in My Backyard'

Wilton resident Renee Rafferty got a bit of scare on Wednesday evening when she spotted a black bear walking across the backyard of her Scarlet Oak Drive home, she told Patch.

"He or she was about 40 feet from the house," she wrote in an email. "I would estimate that it is about 4-5 feet long on all fours."

Rafferty said that this is the first time she's seen a black bear on her property, but one of her neighbors on Silver Spring Road reported seeing one Monday evening.

"As the bear walked into the woods, I saw that my neighbor was trail riding back there and called for him to get into the house," she wrote.

The police referred Rafferty to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which asked her to report the sighting on their Web site. She also contacted Wilton Animal Control, which could not be reached for comment.

"We are quite unsettled around here as just 30 minutes prior to the bear visit, the kids were outside playing right where the bear appeared," Rafferty wrote. "I know bears like to avoid humans, but imagine the shock when instead of seeing the kids on the play set, I saw a black bear walking by."

For more information on what to do if you see a black bear, visit the CT DEEP Web site.