It’s been a couple of years since the Montclair Bear made headlines (He was a funny bear), but over the weekend some other bears were in the news. By now you’ve heard about the bear we tweeted about on Sunday in a Bloomfield cemetery:
Glen Ridge| *Bear Sighting*| Belleville Avenue| bear in a tree in the cemetery, requesting additional units and awaiting animal control.
— baristanet (@baristanet) May 17, 2015
A bear was spotted near a #Bloomfield cemetery. #FiOS1News Photographer @andrew5611 took this photo pic.twitter.com/I2P9RUj5pe
— FiOS1 New Jersey (@FiOS1NewsNJ) May 17, 2015
State wildlife officials coaxed that bear down out of a tree in the cemetery and into a trap with some Dunkin’ Donuts!
Another bear was spotted outside of a realty office on Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell:
Black Bear Spotted On Bloomfield Ave In Caldwell https://t.co/EVfQfF7beB
— CBS New York (@CBSNewYork) May 18, 2015
Coincidentally, it was “Bear Awareness Day” at Turtle Back Zoo on Saturday. Perhaps, that’s why the bears were in Essex County:
Bear Awareness Day ~ Saturday, May 16; 11am to -4pm
Free with admission to Turtle Back Zoo
The Zoo’s resident black bears welcome you to…
— Joe D (@Joe_D_EssexExec) May 11, 2015
Black Bears aren’t the only animals hanging out in the burbs. Coyotes have been spotted in Montclair (one even has his own Twitter account) and over in Saddle River, a coyote attacked a family’s dog. Deer frequently make their way in residents’ yards and just this morning I saw a wild turkey crossing North Mountain Avenue.
Have you spotted more wildlife on your lawn? Do you think we’ll see more Black Bears in Montclair this year?
Apparently it’s mating season for the wild turkeys…spotted several in the Afterglow section of Verona!
One of my neighbors in GR has a nest with 12 turkey eggs in it. The hen has been on her nest for almost 4 weeks. So far no omelettes for raccoons, skunks or fox.
These animals have obviously been pushed from Mills Reservations by dogs off leashes.