Bear attacked 10-year-old in Morris, officials say (Connecticut)

The Register Citizen ^ | October 17 2022 | Ben Lampert

[SamAdams76]

MORRIS — A 10-year-old boy was attacked by a bear Sunday morning, state officials say.

Environmental Conservation police and state troopers responded to a report that a black bear had attacked the boy in Morris around 11 a.m. Sunday, a Department of Energy and Environmental Protection spokesperson said.

The boy was taken by ambulance to Charlotte Hungerford Hospital for medical treatment, the spokesperson said, noting the child’s injuries appear to be non-life-threatening.

"The bear was still present near the scene and was located and euthanized by EnCon police," they said.

[SamAdams76]

Sorry for the lack of information but we apparently have grade schoolers writing for newspapers these days. Yes, what I have above is the ENTIRE article. I hope the reporter didn't work too hard.

Back when journalism in America actually existed, the reporters would get off their duffs, drive to the scene, take pictures, interview people, and get all the five W's (Where, when, what, who and why). Instead they seem content regurgitating whatever the government "officials" tell them. But I digress. Glad to hear the kid is apparently going to be okay.

Anyway, bears are getting to be a big problem here in Connecticut. I've personally seen them in Simsbury, Granby and most recently in my hometown of Newtown while on a hike recently.

They tend to leave people alone but have been getting more aggressive in recent years and are encroaching deeper and deeper into suburban territory. I think a lot of people are inadvertently attracting them by putting out bird feeders and not securing their garbage. Also, I think the increase in deer carcasses (hit by cars) might be bringing them closer to civilization.

Speaking of deer. I have never seen so many deer as I see now. It used to be unusual to see them crossing roads but now it's unusual not to see them when driving the backroads at dawn or dusk.

I hit one back in March on the way to work and caused $3,000 damage to my car. We need to encourage deer hunting as I believe the numbers (of deer hunters) are way down here in the Northeast. This is allowing deer and other wildlife like bears to proliferate into populated areas.

Maybe we can encourage deer hunting by putting venison back on the dinner table. There is a local restaurant here in Newtown that has a venison dish and it's quite tasty.

[metmom]

Interesting.

Rumor has it that we have bears in our neck of the woods here in NH, but we don’t put a bird feeder out. We were warned against that.

I did try some suet cakes after the bears went in for hibernation, and the squirrels gorged on them. So much for the birds.

Maybe I’ll put them out again and use the squirrels for target practice.

[AnotherUnixGeek]

Speaking of deer. I have never seen so many deer as I see now.

I'd imagine the black bears would say the same. Curbing the deer population would of course help to curb the bear population.

[Red Badger]

We’re up to our ears in bears here in Florida Panhandle...............

[Jeff Chandler]

“Most fatal attacks by North American black bears during the past century were conducted by lone, male animals that stalked and then killed their human victims as prey, according to a new study by the world’s top authority on what triggers bear attacks.”

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/lone-predatory-black-bears-responsible-most-human-attacks/2011/05/11/

[Red Badger]

https://www.amazon.com/Predator-Pee-100-Fox-Urine/dp/B01AL6Y8AU

[marktwain]

Here is a more detailed account from CBS/AP.

[mikey_hates_everything]

LOL, between all the foxes my boy chases during pre-dawn hours and his competition marking of everything, there’s plenty of it for free around my neigborhood.

[gloryblaze]

Holy Cow. It’s a miracle that the cops got there in time.

[SamAdams76]

Thanks, that article did have more information. I try to rely on local sources (as opposed to mainstream media) but the local reporting can be just so awful.

It used to not be that way. We used to get the local paper to get the scoop on what was happening in our area. The major papers was where we went to get our national/international news.

[imabadboy99]

It’s not the bear’s fault. It’s because of how it was raised.

[marktwain]

There is some good local reporting going on.

Often, it is citizen reporters and very small, local concerns such as in Kenosha with the Kenosha Eye.

We are in a transitional period. Where we will end up is uncertain.

[muir_redwoods]

I live in northeastern Connecticut. I’ve seen lots of deer, bobcats and coyotes and a few bears but my biggest surprise was a mountain lion. I called the CT DEP and they wouldn’t even take the report telling me I must have seen a bobcat. I well know the difference. I went online and saw four other people within a fifteen mile radius reporting a mountain lion that same weekend and they got the same response from DEP.

There are mountain lions in Connecticut. Probably near where you live too.

[EEGator]

There
s a ton of deer in PA. Some years ago they had some kind of prion based disease, and I think people hunted less.
No clue if that’s still an issue.

[McGruff]

I’ve been saying for a while this is going to keep up until some little kid gets killed by a overly protective mama bear. Past time to allow bear hunting in CT.

[ZinGirl]

Holy mackerel. I bought that stuff. (We HATE squirrels digging up every freaking flower we plant and gorging themselves on suet, bird feed, etc). Do not open in the house! (A warning from Amazon reviews. I’ll add “do not leave container outside in the rain even if you are sure the lid is in securely”. God above, I want to vomit just thinking of it). BUT…the stuff does work!

[GQuagmire]

Apparently there have been black bear sightings on the North Shore of MA. Peabody/ Beverly area. wooded areas yes but very close to urban areas as well. Coyotes are running rampant in the area too. Urban areas. of course no one will shoot them

[woodbutcher1963]

In Southern NH they have made it so you can now take a doe the first 5 days of regular gun season. Prior to this year it was the first two days you could take a doe. You can also use a crossbow to take deer during archery season in SE NH.

The problem with bear is that too many people leave their bird feeder up year round. NH Fish & Game advises residents to take them down on April 1st.
Mrs Woodbutcher left it up one year. We had to replace that feeder after the bear broke it apart.

There are way too many deer here in NH. The problem is that houses are built all over the southern part of the state. However, the zoning laws require 1-2 acre lots. So, there is a fair amount of land between the houses. Plenty enough forest/swamps and bushes to support deer, turkeys and other wildlife. Not enough space to hunt between the houses though. Especially from the Merrimack river to the seacoast.
This are has a lot of deer and a lot of houses.

[woodbutcher1963]

There was the mountain lion that got killed on the Merit Parkway on Greenwich about 5 or 6 years ago.
Fish & Game said that came all the way from the SD. They matched its DNA from lions in the Badlands.

[Dr. Franklin]

Speaking of deer. I have never seen so many deer as I see now. It used to be unusual to see them crossing roads but now it's unusual not to see them when driving the backroads at dawn or dusk.
I hit one back in March on the way to work and caused $3,000 damage to my car. We need to encourage deer hunting as I believe the numbers (of deer hunters) are way down here in the Northeast. This is allowing deer and other wildlife like bears to proliferate into populated areas.
Maybe we can encourage deer hunting by putting venison back on the dinner table. There is a local restaurant here in Newtown that has a venison dish and it's quite tasty.

As suburbia sprawls, it becomes harder to hunt deer because the houses are too close for using a rifle due to safety reasons. Bow hunting requires less space, but the housing density causes problems with that as well. With few natural predators in the suburbs, the deer population increases to the point that the deer become a nuisance eating from gardens and shrubbery near homes, and then colliding with motor vehicles. Local ordinances limiting the heights of fences to 6 feet also contribute to the problem.

There are some coyotes/coywolves that can prey on young deer, but tend to leave the older ones alone. Those coywolves can easily climb a 6 foot fence, and threaten children and pets. Sadly, those laws are not likely to change until kids start getting mauled.