AVON, Conn. (WTNH) — A Connecticut man’s home security camera caught his fearless dog frightening and chasing a black bear in his backyard Thursday morning.
Crimson, a 7-year-old rescue from Alabama, was not happy about the visitor. The video shows the Goldendoodle chasing the bear, then standing by the edge of the Avon property to make sure the bear didn’t come back.
Avon is among the Connecticut towns with the highest number of bear sightings, with around 260 reported in 2023, according to a map maintained by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).
According to DEEP, many residences are located in or near bear habitats.
“The bear population is healthy and increasing in Connecticut and sightings have become more common,” the department said.
A sighting in Avon also made national headlines last month. On May 24, employees at the Taste by Spellbound bakery were loading cupcakes into a van to make deliveries when they were surprised by a bear, which ended up helping itself to 60 cupcakes.
Maureen Williams, an employee at the Avon bakery, said another baker eventually scared the animal away.
“We made lots of noise to try and get him to go away,” Williams told Nexstar’s WTHN. “One of our bakers got in their car and drove around the back and found him sitting there eating all of our stuff. [They] honked on the horn quite a bit to get him to go away, and finally he went away.”
DEEP recommends doing what it appears Crimson and the bakers did — make lots of noise to scare the bear and “reinforce its natural fear of people.” Instead of barking like Crimson, though, residents are advised to use such tactics as banging pots and pans, shouting or blowing a whistle or air horn. (Other tactics and advice can be found at the official DEEP website.)
Residents should also report a black bear sighting by using an online form.
In 2022, bears were reported in 158 of the state’s 169 towns and cities, according to DEEP.