Black Bear wandering around Lower Wyoming

According to NextDoor a bear was spotted around 7 near Walton.  

Seen on Glenside Road about 8 am. 

it always amazes me that a bear sneaks into our neighborhood every now and then.  It doesn't seems like there are any regular sightings in our area.  What route did they take to get here?

 When I searched for bear sighting - I see one in the news in ewing for this year:

https://www.fox29.com/news/black-bear-spotted-near-neighborhood-in-new-jersey-police

Here's another in Park Ridge:

https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/park-ridge/2024/04/12/park-ridge-nj-black-bear-sighting-reported-by-police/73301146007/

Outdoor recess at South Mountain School cancelled because of the bear.

(The bear wouldn’t go anywhere near dozens of screaming kids!)

Last seen in West Orange headed towards the reservation.

jimmurphy said:

Outdoor recess at South Mountain School cancelled because of the bear.

(The bear wouldn’t go anywhere near dozens of screaming kids!)

By 8:30am today, the bear had made its way into West Orange, along Ridgewood it seems, pretty much crossing in front of my house and into the Upper Gregory neighborhood towards the reservation. That bear was booking! 

Here’s a pic from the Glenside Rd sighting.

Lots of wooded area to traverse in that neighborhood. And I agree the noise from the kids would likely scare the bear away from the recess area. But in the one in a million chance that things could go sideways, I can see why caution is the way to go. 

Beautiful critter.

Remember when we had one by the middle school in maplewood some years ago? He climbed up into a tree and they shot him with a tranquilizer, then waited until he fell into the net… 

They’re probably running out of food up in the reservation. 

I would just love to see a bear here!

They are not coming from the reservation (though they might have walked through it).

These youngsters have been pushed out of the little suitable habitat that is left in northwestern NJ by the adults.   

I'm not aware of any established bear presence in the reservation although perhaps that's coming with the overall increase in the bear population in this region. Does anyone know if they are now resident there?

I think these bears are young'uns that their mother has set free, and they are looking for a suitable home.  Residency in the reservation is probably premature, although not out of the realm of possibility.

sac said:

I'm not aware of any established bear presence in the reservation although perhaps that's coming with the overall increase in the bear population in this region. Does anyone know if they are now resident there?

People walk through all parts of the res on daily basis.... more so on weekends. A bear condo would surely have been noticed and reported on by now.

A friend of mine from college was killed by a bear while hiking in Alaska in 1996. Since then, I want nothing to do with bears. Any bears. No bears.