A black bear that caused quite a stir in one Madison community has been caught and euthanized, according to officials.
Residents living near Home County Road became concerned recently after a video surfaced showing the black bear charging at a homeowner through an open window in his home on August 28th.
Richard Nace is the homeowner who had a close encounter with the bear in his backyard.
Nace stuck his head out the window of his home on County Road and tried to shoo the bear away, when the animal charged at him. He caught the whole encounter on video and posted the video on YouTube.
"It was amazing how fast it moved," Nace said.
He slammed the window on the bear's face and stayed inside. Nace called wildlife officials who planned to come out to the location at some point to try and deal with the bear.
According to police, residents in the neighborhood had been complaining about the animal.
Local
"This bear had been seen frequently in the Madison area over the last few weeks and had been the source of numerous complaints received by local animal control officials,"said a spokesman for the Department of Environmental and Energy Protection.
DEEP also said the bear had been aggressive towards humans and received unconfirmed reports that at least on resident had been feeding the bear.
"When a bear is intentionally or unintentionally fed, it begins to associate food with people and loses its fear of humans," said DEEP.
State officials said Connecticut's bear population is about 500 and growing. There were nearly 3,000 bear sighting reports from 122 of the state's 169 towns in 2011.
DEEP urges residents to take the following steps to avoid problems with black bears: never feed bears, take down bird feeders by late March, store garbage in secure, airtight containers inside a garage or storage area, and keep barbecue grills clean etc.
Anyone who observes a black bear in Connecticut is encouraged to report the sighting by calling the Wildlife Division’s Sessions Woods office at 860-675-8130 or its 24 hour dispatch line at 860-424-3333.
