Black Bear Spotted In Baltimore County
PARKTON, Md. (WJZ) -- Yet another black bear sighting in a Maryland residential neighborhood. This time, the large animal was spotted on York Road in Parkton.
Amy Yensi has more.
The couple was not expecting the furry visitor in their backyard, but they did exactly what experts suggest: they stayed indoors.
A Parkton couple watched as a black bear stretched its paws in their backyard. The nearly 200-pound animal looked straight into the camera lens as he made himself at home. It's the latest video of several recent bear sightings.
"Sometimes you see bears in people's trash cans, like behind their houses and stuff. And now, some are going into schoolyards," said one resident.
There have been reported bear sightings from residents in Montgomery, Carroll and Howard counties.
"Usually these two-year-old males that we have coming through range 80, maybe to 100-plus pounds," said Ken D'Loughy, with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources.
Ken D'Loughly with Maryland's Department of Natural Resources says bear sightings in residential neighborhoods are common this time of year.
"The males are very, very territorial. So it's not uncommon for these two-year-old bears to travel up to 100 miles from the area they were born in," he said.
D'Loughy says when that territory is someone's property:
"The bear had gone to several neighbors' homes in the back," said one man.
The best option is to alert Natural Resources Police.
Police say the bears are typically looking for food so they're asking people to remove bird feeders, trash and even grills from outside their homes.
"Black bears are not aggressive. We always stress if you happen to see a bear, keep your distance in your yard. Don't approach it. Go back indoors; give it a chance to move on," said D'Loughly.
The NRP says they see this every year and expect the bear sightings to last well into August.
Experts say bears have incredible sense of smell and can detect the scent of food up to 20 miles away.