Black Bears Seen Wandering Md. Neighborhoods
BALTIMORE, Md (WJZ)--The Maryland Department of Natural Resources says residents should be on alert after juvenile black bears have been spotted around several suburban Maryland areas in recent weeks, including Baltimore County, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
According to Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for Natural Resources Police, a recent sighting at the intersection of I-70 and Route 29 actually stopped traffic for a time.
There were eight bear sightings in Prince George's and Montgomery counties on Sunday, and there have been two more sightings in Prince George's County and one in Columbia since then.
Some of the sightings were reported on the University of Maryland, College Park campus.
Thomson says it's likely the bears sighted in Montgomery and Prince George's counties are actually the same animal, and it's possible, though less likely, that the one seen in Columbia is also the same bear.
"Bears generally travel through these areas each spring and summer before quickly returning to more suitable habitats," says Wildlife and Heritage Service Director, Paul Peditto.
"Most of these bears are young animals looking to find territory to call their own. They will quickly move on to more rural communities."
According to Thomson, when a mother bear is ready to breed again, she encourages older cubs -- typically in their second year of life -- to go out on their own. At that point, they go off in search for their own territory.
"It needs to eat, and suburbanites have garbage cans and bird feeders," she says.
The Department of Natural Resources suggests taking down feeders and securing trash cans to prevent bears from getting easy meals, which will encouraging them to move on from the neighborhood.
Sightings in the state's more suburban areas tend to peak during June and July but can occur as late as September.
Maryland is home to a healthy black bear population in several western counties, such as Allegany and Frederick. In recent years, dispersing bears have been sighted in all counties west of the Chesapeake Bay.
A black bear was also spotted near an Arby's in Virginia on Tuesday.
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