Residents have big, furry neighbors, but may not know it

As Helen Hatzenbeler stood on a ladder painting her living room on a recent Sunday morning, her two cats came flying through their little door and scurried out of view.

When the Redfields resident found them, the cats were all “puffed up” and rattled.

Figuring her felines had run across a dog or some other critter in the rural neighborhood just outside Charlottesville, Hatzenbeler returned to her ladder and paint.

Then she looked at a nearby open window and saw two black bear cubs watching her.

Hatzenbeler, who works at the CFA Institute, had seen signs of bears before — destroyed bird feeders were one clue. But she hadn’t seen one in her neighborhood before that day.

As more people move to rural areas in the state, such interaction with a growing black bear population is unavoidable, according to Department of Game and Inland Fisheries officials.

“I would say that overall, we’ve seen more statewide interaction,” said Jaime Sajecki, black bear project leader with the DGIF.

At the turn of the 20th century, Virginia’s black bear population had dwindled to just about nothing, she said. But over time, the bears made a comeback.

Now their population continues to grow, to the point where black bears are spreading to uncharted territory, such as the Northern Neck, Sajecki said.

Prime bear country

Being near Shenandoah National Park, Albemarle is prime black bear country. The county has among the largest annual harvests (hunting kills) of black bears, according to DGIF statistics.

So it should come as no surprise that there are black bears living in Albemarle neighborhoods — a resident in Lake Renovia just outside Charlottesville also reportedly saw one recently. But many people don’t realize that the bears live among them, Sajecki said.

A recent instance where she and co-workers set up a trap for a particular black bear actually turned up three other bears living in a populated area, Sajecki recalled. “And people there had no idea.”

Hatzenbeler saw the cubs peeping at her later on that recent Sunday.

She also met their mother, with the cubs, on her back patio. And, as she opened the glass door to shoo one of the cubs off her hot tub, the mother stood and eyed her.

“When she went to her feet like that, her head was huge,” Hatzenbeler said. “And she was looking at me dead on, like, ‘Don’t even think about it.’”

Black bears really want nothing to do with people, Sajecki and her co-worker Mike Dye said.

Still, Hatzenbeler was rattled.

“It was scary,” she said. “Now, you’re a little paranoid to go out into your yard.”

She also worries about neighborhood children.

Sajecki and Dye said anyone who comes across a black bear should be confident and make loud noises, such as clanging pots and pans.

But be careful not to come between a mother and her cubs, they warned.

“They’re docile … nonconfrontational,” Dye said. “They would rather run away. Make yourself look big and go out with confidence.”

The biggest problem Sajecki and Dye see with human-black bear interaction is caused by the former, who often feed the bears.

That is against the law even if a bear eats from a backyard bird feeder on a regular basis.

Too cute

For some, bear cubs are just too adorable.

“A baby bear’s about as cute an animal as you’re gonna find,” Dye said.

But those who feed the bears are doing more harm than good to the animal, Sajecki and Dye said.

There have been no unprovoked black bear attacks on people in 100 years in Virginia, Dye said, but it becomes too risky when they feel comfortable around people.

Last summer, the DGIF had to euthanize six bears at Wintergreen Resort in Nelson County after the animals had broken into unoccupied homes and raided the kitchens.

Once bears associate a home as a source of food, they won’t “unlearn it,” Sajecki said.

Most people get upset when they find black bears living nearby, according to Sajecki.

Simple answer

But there is a simple solution, Sajecki and Dye say: Make the bear’s experience with you a negative one every chance you get.

“They don’t want to be around us,” Sajecki said. “They don’t need our food. They don’t need to be fed.”

Dye has worked with Kristina Parker, homeowners association president of Redfields, in an effort to educate residents.

Parker has sent e-mails and plans to distribute fliers telling residents how to avoid the bears.

She has suggested that residents take down bird feeders and keep trash cans inside, for example.

Some residents in the 444-home neighborhood think it’s neat to have bears living there.

But others “are a little nervous,” especially those with children, said Parker, who has two young children herself. “It’s a touchy situation.”