"I feel bad": Food put out by humans may lead to bear's demise in Hanson
HANSON - A bear is on the loose in Hanson, harassing neighborhoods and breaking into barns. Now, police are planning to kill the animal if found.
"He opened two locks and ignored the electric fence to get into the barn," said Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch.
The Hanson Police Department named the black bear Pumpkin after they were spotted snacking on their namesake.
"When they find a food source they will stay in that area and go back to the food source," said Miksch. He said the bear is now accused of breaking into a barn, killing a family's goat. "Once the bears get into the livestock, they're going to continue to do that and it's going to escalate."
Police said Pumpkin has been spotted in East Bridgewater Whitman and Halifax, where Mike Johnstone caught the him in the act.
"I went out to fill the birdfeeders back up, a black bear came out of the woods standing on its hind legs, pulling the birdfeeder back down," said Johnstone. He watched Pumpkin snack on corn and sunflower seeds before taking a nap. "I feel bad because we're kind of in the bears' backyard."
"The reason that bears are in yards is because of the human-associated foods that we have around our homes. It's the birdfeeders, the unsecured garbage, those free meals that actually train bears to come to yards to find food. That's when they start encountering chicken coops or beehives, breaking into those," said Dave Wattles, a bear biologist for the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. "We are constantly trying to ask the public to remove the food sources around their home so bears don't develop these behaviors."
Officials said Pumpkin poses no immediate threat to the public but is endangering other animals and property and may have to be put down.
"Quite often they are killed because of the behaviors that they develop from being fed, essentially, by people," said Wattles.
The Hanson Police Department said they are not actively hunting the bear but if they come across them, they will ultimately have to make a decision in conjunction with state agencies, including the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.