Officials warn New Jersey residents to keep an eye out for bears as they start emerging from their dens

SUMMIT, N.J. -- It's that time of year when black bears in New Jersey start emerging from their dens.

As CBS2's Christine Sloan reports, officials say there are precautions you can take to keep them away from your home.

Police sent out an alert Wednesday morning in one Summit neighborhood warning residents a bear was spotted in the backyard of a home on Mountain Avenue.

Christian Hillabrant made sure his small dog was inside.

"We've lived here about five years, and this is the third bear sighting we've had in that time," he said.

Spring is when bears begin coming out of their dens. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, there've been about a dozen bear incidents reported this year -- from bears rummaging through trash cans to the large mammals trying to enter homes.

Animal activists say humans are most often to blame when bears get too close.

"People think that bears are ravenously coming out of their den. They don't. They're sluggish, but the worst thing we can do is feed them, so we should keep our trash in bear-resistance cans. We should stop feeding the birds, and if you must feed birds, put the bird feeders up 12 feet high and clean up debris," said Angie Metler, executive director of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey.

Landscaper Douglas Alpizar, who was in Summit, has seen it firsthand.

"They knock down the bird cage and they take the food and they eat it," he said.

The Summit neighborhood is also near the Watchung Reserve, which surrounds several Union County communities.

"It's a great place to take your kids, but obviously there's a lot of wild animals, so you got to be careful and make sure you check ahead of time and look around the corner to make sure you don't run into a bear," Hillabrant said.

DEP officials say if you encounter a bear, remain calm, don't run, avoid eye contact and make loud noises to make the bear aware of your presence, then slowly back away. They also say bear attacks are extremely rare.