Black bear seen roaming Wayne, N.J. yards and destroying bird feeders
Some northern New Jersey residents are on high alert after a bear was recently seen causing some damage in several backyards.
It comes at a time of year when bear sightings are on the rise.
Julia Van Sickle's close encounter
Wayne resident Julia Van Sickle said she noticed a black bear in her Baldwin Terrace yard on Monday morning.
"I heard a noise and I looked up, and he was right at that fence," Van Sickle said. "I was very close. It didn't really hit me at first, how close I was, until I saw it."
Being a photographer, Van Sickle said her first instinct was to grab her camera and start snapping.
"I've always wanted to see a bear. I was far away enough from it that I felt I could take a good picture and still be safe, so I was excited," Van Sickle said.
Elizabeth Wozniak laments her bird feeders
The bear eventually made its way down the street to Kenwood Road, where it started destroying bird feeders in search of food.
Resident Elizabeth Wozniak said she watched from her window as the bear climbed up onto her deck before eventually wandering through more yards.
"It is different. We've seen them up in the trees where they've had to come tranquilize them and take them down, and as I said, we've seen them run through the yard. But this is the first time that he came, stayed and had a party with our bird feeders," Wozniak said.
Officials offer advice to keep bears away
Officials in Wayne say they regularly field calls about bears. They are urging people to wait to put trash out until collection day, not the night before, to help keep the animals away. They also suggest only feeding birds between Dec. 1 and April 1, when bears are least active.
Van Sickle said she will definitely take heed of town officials' directives.
"I've seen a few tips on making sure the trash and everything is more contained as it gets closer to collection. And our dogs, we're definitely being more mindful with them now. We used to just kind of let them go out. So now we're definitely going with them, making sure we have a flashlight and can see what's going on," Van Sickle said.
New Jersey Fish & Wildlife officials say there are typically more sightings this time of year because bears are looking for food before winter.