Warning issued after mother bear and 3 cubs spotted in Penn Township
PENN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) — Bear sightings aren't rare in southwestern Pennsylvania, especially in Penn Township, Butler County.
Ralph Jockel came home for lunch on Monday afternoon and couldn't believe what he saw.
"I had my dogs in the truck with me, and I saw the mama bear coming across the country club with the three little cubs following behind," Jockel said.
Jockel has lived next to the Butler Country Club in Penn Township for about 10 years. He said he sees a bear at least once a year, but he's never spotted a little bear family.
The mama black bear and her three cubs have made themselves at home around Jockel's home. They were walking on the golf course, climbing trees next to Jockel's driveway and relaxing in his yard. The mother bear even took a nap and nursed her cubs. Of course, she also looked for food.
"I caught her going into my garbage can, so I kind of scared her away from the garbage as she's walking away with a pizza box in her mouth. And she wasn't real scared. She just went over to the tree, she sat down and waited for me to leave," Jockel said.
Even though the cubs are cute, there were no bear hugs. Jockel didn't want to poke the bear, so he stayed far away from them. He said the female bear was surprisingly laid back for most of the visit.
"I took a step toward the garbage to try to clean it up and she started snapping her jaw at me and I knew that was notion to stay away. So, I kind of just left the garbage there," he said.
The hungry bears stuck for about five hours. They even came back on Tuesday afternoon.
The general manager of Butler Country Club, Michele Ruth, told KDKA-TV's Jessica Guay that the club closed several holes when the bears decided to spend most of the day in a tree on their golf course, and it will closely monitor their location to ensure everyone's safety this week.
The Penn Township Police Department warned residents about the bear family on Facebook and told residents to keep garbage cans and bird feeders in and be careful with pets.
Jockel is making sure his dogs stay safe when going outside.
"Usually, I just let them run because I have an electric fence around the property. But last night and today, we're making sure we're out with them, making sure we don't see anything before letting them out. We have our garbage covered again so they don't try to get back into there," he said.
Jockel said it's been fun bear-watching, but he's hoping the fuzzy trespassers will move on soon.
"I didn't go back to work. I stayed around the house the rest of the day and just watched the bears and the baby bears it was so cool to see them climbing up and down the trees and puddle around in the woods there," Jockel said.
In March, a woman survived a bear attack in Butler Township, which is about eight miles from Penn Township. That bear attack involved a different mama bear. She was euthanized after the attack. Her three cubs were captured and then released in Warren County.