WINSTED, Conn. (WFSB) – Bear sightings have been on the rise across Connecticut, especially in the northwest.
In Canton, a bear was euthanized after breaking into several homes.
On Monday, a woman from Winsted found a bear inside her home.
Shannon Davis says she came home and didn’t suspect anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t until she saw her cat sitting outside staring at the window that she thought something was wrong.
“It was just a weird look on the cat and I didn’t notice the screen was out and I saw a shadow walk by the window,” says Davis.
She says the bear broke into her house through the window and made its way to the kitchen.
“It was almost like what’s for dinner,” says Davis.
She then ran to her neighbor and asked for his help.
“He started banging on that door over there. The bear went in my room and climbed out my window,” Davis says.
The bear ended up making its way out the back door. Davis says there wasn’t a lot of damage from this incident.
“There was a lollipop stuck to the rug. It pulled out the snack tray.” BUTT 3:31 “It was pulled to the edge but there was only a package of vanilla wafers and those dots and that was it,” says Davis.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) says the bear population has been steadily growing every year, but in 2022 there has been a 20% increase in their calls for bear issues.
“This is a pretty big increase for us,” says Colonel Chris Lewis of the Environmental Conservation Police.
Lewis says keeping food sources away from bears is paramount to keeping them away.
“The biggest thing we want to get across to people is bears are attracted to food so remove the food source and the bears don’t have a reason to come into your yard, to come into your house,” says Lewis.
Officials say if you see a bear in your house or neighborhood, call DEEP.
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