Posted on 07/29/2010 8:28:59 PM PDT by Coleus
Too close for comfort. Residents of one New Jersey town said they're used to seeing black bears near their homes, but not like this. An entire family of the wild animals were captured on video playing and lounging where children had been moments before.
Ushanti Gerri shot the video Tuesday afternoon, shocked to see bear cubs at play only steps from her back door. Not just two, but three of them, standing on their hind legs, sparring, exploring, acting like children, under the watchful eye of their very large mother. The bear family spent more than a half hour playing among the sandboxes and toys laid out for her kids.
The sighting has changed everything about how she and her family are spending the summer. "It's scary to go outside and to make sure the children are safe. Who wants to be a prisoner in their own house?" Gerri said.
There are woods around here, but it's not like they're in the middle of a forest. It's the middle of a development. There are neighbors and the bears come right in and make themselves at home. They're particularly fond of the kids' toys. The balls have baby bear bite marks on them. It's interesting but a little unsettling.
The man of the house worries now about heading off the work in the morning. Brian Gerri bought the place in 1997 and said the bears have never been so numerous or so bold but remembers a lull in such encounters after the last state sanctioned bear hunt five years ago.
"After the last bear hunt, yeah, we really didn't see them for 18 months, maybe two years and after that the population grew again. They say there's 3,500 bear now and if half of them have two of three cubs, how many we gonna have next year?" Brian Gerri said. New Jersey has a bear hunt scheduled for this coming December. The Gerris hope it helps gives them a little more room to live.
bout 20 miles northeast of me....I keep saying it’s just a matter of time.
I’m glad they’ve extended the hunt.
Our toddlers went inside the building in a majorly residential area here in Northern VA, and a giant Mama bear went galloping across the play yard a split second later. We were unhappy.
Amazing interview with Jack Hannah yesterday. He had to pepper spray a bear up in Montana that came after him.
Vernon Township has had a bear problem for years. You never just let your dog out. There was a bear across the road from the middle school when one of my sons was there. The kids watched it out of the school windows. Even then (almost 30 years ago) it wasn’t as bad as now.
I like bears more than most NJ voters. The bears are FAR less obnoxious than many of people from NJ.
Shame a bear does not eat Springsteen, Bon Jovi and those “Jersey Shore” frauds from Staten Island.
Taxes, gangs and politicians are far more dangerous in NJ than bears.
Only bright side is Christie, Schundler and a few others.
Not in Vernon.
Ahh northern Sussex County - beautiful spot.
It was prettier before they built all those houses on farmland and campgrounds.
Catch and release in Central Park and add some Wolfs too.
NJ bear ping. Better check the back yard. ;^)
No bears here. I still wonder when I am going to wake up to the homeless guy bathing in my hot tub & grilling one of my koi fish for breakfast. I have heavy stockade fence around my yard. When I get the farm I am getting a mule or 2 in case of bears getting near my horses. To be honest the homeless guy who looks like Aqualung scares me more. Between him & the heron I count my koi each day.
No fences here. Just me and my leetle shotgun.
Hmm the bears may vote here for all I know lol. No guns here either. Maybe the bears will get some & shoot back....Nothing would shock me as I have lived here all my life.
OMG! NJ IZ BEING INVADED BY BEARZ!
Reminds me of the remark by Mississippi John Hurt, “They tell me they were looking for me in Avalon, Georgia, but I was right here in Avalon, Mississippi the whole time. Never moved.”
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