You have to admit, he’s a bit strange looking for a black bear. You can see why people might think “grizzly”.
We’ve had black bears getting up on people’s decks for the bird feeders, and raiding trash curbies. The pics show normal looking black bears. They’re up in the hills a mile or more away from me, in areas that back up to an undeveloped mountain/ridge. I’d prefer to *not* see one down here.
I expect DNR might have to get involved if this continues.
He looks like the world’s largest RACCOON!.....................
Black bear - recessive gene. They’ve been seen in NJ with albino-like traits. I have a black bear that lives in my property in our luxury cave system of large granite boulders. They generally don’t bother with us humans; there’s lots of open space in the Federal Wildlife Preserve across the street.
Bearthink: Idiot tourists running and screaming = easy prey. But do they taste good?
My MIL lives in a small town outside Asheville. Bears are all over the place. People set off their car alarms before they go out of the house, just to chase the bears off.
On your other note, I used to be a zookeeper, and worked with a lot of black bears. I don’t think I would have identified this critter as a black bear.