Authorities say it's unusual to see bears in Springfield, even in the city's suburban outer fringes.
This black bear was seen roaming through a residential property on Old Douglas Road in Warren earlier this month.SPRINGFIELD -- It's not that unusual for black bears to find their way to downtown Northampton, where the air is redolent with the scent of cooked food wafting from restaurants and alleyway Dumpsters can offer free snacks.
But bears in Springfield?
The City of Homes can count ursus americanus among its nearly 155,000 residents, thanks to an early-Sunday sighting at the Allen Park Apartments in the Outerbelt section of the city.
The bear was spotted rummaging near a Dumpster outside 480 Allen Park Road around 4:25 a.m., according to Springfield police.
"If you see one, don't go near it," said Lt. John Slepchuk, adding that city police contacted Massachusetts Environmental Police as a precaution.
"We're waiting to hear back from them," Slepchuk said around 6 a.m. Sunday.
Most of the state's 3000-plus bears tend to roam forestland west of the Connecticut River, though sightings are becoming more common in parts of Worcester County with even a few popping up in suburban Boston.
A June 2009 encounter in the Cedarville section of Plymouth was perhaps the southeasternmost point in the state to log a bear sighting in recent years, though the big animals continue to show up in unlikely spots.
Closer to home, sightings have been reported in Wilbraham, Hampden and East Longmeadow in recent years. In May 2009, a mother and two cubs were seen roaming through yards along Autumn Ridge Road in East Longmeadow, an upscale subdivision near the Connecticut border. Wildlife experts suspected the bear family had been using a nearby power line corridor just south of Pease Road to travel through the otherwise suburban neighborhood.
This May 2007 photo shows a black bear strolling through a Masonic Street parking lot in downtown Northampton.
Last July, a large black bear seen hanging around outside the Summit View Banquet and Meeting House in Holyoke was a big hit with a wedding party at the Northampton Street establishment.
While there have been a handful of sightings in the suburban-to-semi-rural towns along Springfield's eastern flank in recent years, these areas register nowhere near as many bear-human encounters as communities in western Hampden County and sections of Hampshire, Franklin and Berkshire counties.
Slepchuk said an Allen Park resident spotted the bear near a Dumpster, and the man even captured his encounter with the animal on video, which was made during the dark, predawn hours Sunday. That means it was difficult to gauge the sex or size of the bear.
"It's hard to tell," Slepchuk said.
This is the time of year when bears shrug off the torpor of winter and spring back to life as they begin searching for food, according to Marion E. Larson, a wildlife biologist with the Massachcusetts Division of Fisheries & Wildlife (MassWildlife).
While many of the dietary staples for this omnivore are still out of season, one of the easiest early-season foods for bears is birdseed, which is why MassWildlife officials routinely remind residents to remove birdfeeders from their property to avoid luring bears.
"People with feeders need to take (them) down because bears remember from year to year the exact location of where they've gotten food, including your backyard, and they are teaching their young. We don't need these lessons taught to their young," Larson said.
Holyoke firefighters and Massachusetts Environmental Police officers prepare to capture a bear that climbed a tree in Veteran's Park in downtown Holyoke in this June 2010 photo.For Western Massachusetts residents who live in communities where bears are common, MassWildlife recommends making some noise -- banging pots and pans is generally a good method -- when you take out the trash, for example.
Sunday's bear spotting in Springfield follows recent sightings in Ware and Warren.The heavily populated section of Springfield where the bear was seen is near Bicentennial Plaza, one of Springfield's largest shopping centers, and spitting distance from the corner of Allen and Cooley streets, a busy intersection loaded with gas stations, convenience stores, a bank, pizzeria and supermarket.
THE MAP BELOW shows the approximate area where a black bear was spotted early Sunday morning in Springfield: