Bear incidents on the rise in Newton

Newton - The Newton Police Dept. answered 23 bear-related incidents in the 10 days leading up to March 21, reported Newton Police Chief John Tomasula. It is believed that the actual number of bears in the community is closer to a dozen or so and that police officers are dealing with the same bears repeatedly, he added. In 2005 police officers responded to 187 complaints and sightings of black bears, an increase of more than 300 percent from 2004, when officers responded to 48 calls. A review of the records maintained by the police suggests that the bears are drawn to the area primarily by household trash, either left at the curb for pickup or left accessible in a garage or outside porch with the door left open. “Bird feeders seem to be the runner-up as an attractant,” said Tomasula. Once bears realize that a particular address or area is a source of food, they will continually return looking to feed. The police department has trained a number of its officers to be able to conduct aversive conditioning to bears that don’t seem to respond to basic efforts like yelling, banging pots or creating other loud noises aimed at scaring them off. Aversive conditioning involves shooting the bear with small rubber balls and firing projectile pyrotechnics in the air above the animal, which explode close enough to create an unpleasant experience that police hope the bear will associate with the neighborhood, and not return. However, Tomasula said such efforts generally fail when the source of food remains, “and once a bear realizes the windfall offered up in some of our neighborhoods, it is extremely difficult to convince them to move on and some have been problematic during the winter months looking to den up under porches of some of our residences.” Of particular concern to the police, Tomasula said, is that many of the children in the community walk to and from school. “They are walking to school before many garbage contractors are collecting trash from the curb and are encountering bears that are after the trash,” he noted. “There have been experiences where people, both children and adults, have surprised bears coming around the corner of a home or near some plantings. Such surprises, particularly with a mother bear and cubs, could be tragic.” The police chief explained that bears are most active at night and in the early morning hours, but are observed throughout the day because many neighborhoods are quiet while both parents are working and children are in school. To minimize the number of bear encounters in Newton, Tomasula said, it is critical that residents take the following steps: • Residents need to secure their household garbage and put it out to the curb the morning of pickup, and not the night before. • Lids to containers must be secured tightly and, if possible, bleach soaked rags draped over top. “Odors from trash left out at night have an opportunity to travel to the wooded areas where bears are resting and they are simply following their noses to the neighborhoods,” said Tomasula. • Bird feeders should be brought in on April 1 or earlier if long periods of warmer weather come earlier. If left outside they should be suspended at least 10 feet from the ground. • Residents are urged to take a moment to look outside before letting the dog out. If a bear is observed, Tomasula said, the police department should be called. “The department expects to be as active this year as it was in 2005 and generally handle bear complaints every day during several weeks in the spring and fall as bears emerge from hibernation or prepare to den up,” he explained. He said officers are trained to handle incidents involving bears, including situations where an animal threatens the health and safety of an individual. The department discourages residents from attempting to handle bears on their own because a bear’s behavior is unpredictable. Tomasula said bears ranging from 100 pounds to 500 pounds have been observed in Newton. He said the N.J. Division of Fish & Wildlife is an excellent resource for information about protecting against the unwanted presence of black bears in communities. He urged residents to visit the division’s Web site at njfishandwildlife.com for information.