Police say a bear who walked over a newly sealed driveway on Valley Road left tracks behind the residence.
Bear tracks left June 10, 2022 on a Valley Road property. Photo courtesy of New Canaan Animal Control
The incident occurred June 10, the same day police received a second report of sighting of a black bear on the east side of New Canaan, on Sleepy Hollow Road, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm.
The number of black bears appearing in New Canaan each spring has been rising, according to Halm. She encourages residents to use horns or otherwise make loud noises to haze bears away from residential properties. (Bears often are drawn to residences by bird feeders.)
Halm noted on a recent podcast about spring wildlife in New Canaan that black bears were sighted in town in April. And in February, a black bear had been seen on Smith Ridge Road near the New York State line, likely roused from its winter slumber by a string of unseasonably warm days.
A bear track left June 10, 2022 on a Valley Road property. Photo courtesy of New Canaan Animal Control
Black bears typically breed in late June or early July, according to the state. During that time, males travel extensively in search of females. In New Canaan, bear sightings are reported to police all throughout town.
Last November, a black bear broke into a chicken coop in northeastern New Canaan and killed chickens inside it, officials said. The prior month, a resident of the same area photographed a mother bear and two young cubs on their property.