You Saw A Bear?!
By Lily Philipov
It was a regular morning and all of a sudden my mom yelled “BEAR!”. Through our window, I saw a black bear walking across our grass. It didn’t seem agitated but it wasn’t small. I didn’t get to see its claws but I assumed they were big enough to hurt someone. Our neighborhood is filled with young kids, having a bear roaming around just isn’t safe.
We called the police and they started searching for it. This isn’t the first time Millburn has encountered bears. Another bear was spotted close to Short hills schools around our town a few years ago. And this was the warning: "At this time, Deerfield, Glenwood, and Hartshorn schools are operating under a 'shelter-in-place' procedure, which means students will stay in school for physical education, recess and lunch, pending any further updates regarding capture or relocation of the bear," According to Interim Superintendent of Schools Christine Burton. Since the bear sighting on Monday was during quarantine it isn’t as serious but also people are outside more ofter than before because we are all stuck at home and have nothing to do.
To me, this isn’t that unusual. The traffic and noises around the neighborhood are much less than before so we’ve seen more variety of animals coming. Animals such as foxes, woodchucks, frogs, and ducks have all been spotted roaming around the neighborhood.
That afternoon, while circling the neighborhood with my bike I saw people watching the something in a tree! The black bear! There was a trained photographer and several people with binoculars. More and more people began arriving. It turns out, that more people were on the other side of the neighborhood watching too. But there were policemen, telling people to leave the area and social distance more. At the base of the tree, the police set up a large bear trap. They were tempting it with a glazed doughnut too. I spoke with the photographer and he told me that bears can smell things up to 5 miles away! So that doughnut 60 feet below him must’ve been very hard to resist. That night it actually escaped! It is still roaming around so if you live close to the Glenwood district, stay safe and if you come in contact with the bear, walk away very slowly, don't run away!
Photograph of the bear
This picture was taken in the backyard of reporter Lily Philipov.
Photograph of the police
Soon after seeing the bear, the police were called and they began to search.
Another photograph of the bear.
Image of the Bear in a tree
The bear was spotted in a tree by other local residents.
