Black Bear Sightings In Bucks, Montco

BUCKS, MONTGOMERY COUNTIES, PA — Bear sightings have been reported Sunday and Monday in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

On Sunday morning, a bear was reported in the area of the power line trail near Whetstone Road in Horsham. By the afternoon, it was seen at the Willow Grove Naval Air Station, where another sighting was reported Monday morning, police said.

"The bear is alive and still on the loose," police in Horsham said Monday. "The reports that it was euthanized that appeared on numerous local pages are false."

The Pennsylvania Game Commission is working with Horsham's Department of Emergency Management to try to find the bear.

On Sunday afternoon, police shared a photo of the bear climbing a fence onto the air station property. That photo can be seen in the comments portion of this post:

Also, on Monday a bear was spotted in a Warrington neighborhood.

The bear was picked up on a home security camera on Wodock Avenue, according to police.

"If you see the bear do not approach it, give it plenty of space. Please call the PA Game Commission or the police dispatcher to report its location," Warrington police said.

It is not clear if it is the same bear. Wodock Avenue is about two miles from the air station.

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, about 20,000 black bears lived in the state as of 2015. The commission says bear attacks are extremely rare and that, if you encounter one, you should make noise to alert it, back slowly away from it and try to remain calm.

Bear sightings are most common this time of year as they usually mate from early June to mid-July, the game commission said.

Last week, a bear was captured in Chester County after the Pennsylvania Game Commission set up a humane trap that had been baited with donuts.

And earlier in June, sightings were reported in Delaware County.

It is illegal in Pennsylvania to intentionally leave out food or other items that may cause bears to congregate or habituate an area. "In addition, if nuisance bears are being attracted to an area by other wildlife feeding, game wardens can issue written notice to temporarily halt the activity," the game commission explains.