Animal 411

Black Bear Sighting on Old Stamford Road

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Police say residents reported a black bear Tuesday morning in the area of Old Stamford Road just north of the Merritt Parkway. Multiple residents began calling in reports of the bear starting around 8 a.m., according to New Canaan Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm. Halm has said New Canaan is seeing an increasing number of black bears appear each spring. The animals often are drawn to bird feeders on residential properties. Halm encourages residents to haze the bears away.

Animal 411

Podcast: Wildlife in New Canaan 

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This week on 0684-Radi0, our free podcast (subscribe here in the iTunes Store), we talk to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm about wildlife in New Canaan. Here are recent episodes of 0684-Radi0:

Animal 411

‘We’ve Got a Serial Dumper’: Domestic White Bunnies Abandoned in New Canaan, Wilton 

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Police say they’ve seen a series of blue-eyed domestic white rabbits dumped in New Canaan and Wilton in the past two weeks. The five bunnies found between the two towns—most recently on March 24 in New Canaan—represent an “unusual” number of abandoned rabbits, according to Officer Allyson Halm, head of the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control section. 

“We’ve got a serial dumper,” she said. Though rabbits “are always dumped, the recent string appears to point to one breeder, since all of the animals are white with blue eyes, according to Halm. The bunny recovered most recently near the Grupes Reservoir in northeastern New Canaan “was very clean and still plump so we don’t think it was out long,” she said. It’s possible the rabbits are being raised as “meat bunnies,” meaning someone is breeding the animals to be eaten, she said.

Animal 411

Mountain Lion Sighting Reported in Southeastern New Canaan 

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After three reported sightings in New Canaan last summer, police last weekend received yet another a report of a mountain lion sighting in the southeast corner of town. The March 13 sighting, in the area of Old Rock Lane and White Oak Shade Road, just below the Merritt Parkway, appears to be credible, according to Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm. A New Canaan woman walking in the area saw the animal cross the street around Brookside Road and told police that it wasn’t a bobcat or coyote, Halm said. The woman who saw the animal was not able to capture a photo, Halm said. “She panicked a bit and froze,” Halm said, citing details from her conversation with the local woman on March 14.

Animal 411

Police Report: Oak Street Dog Bites Child

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A New Canaan dog underwent a quarantine that ended last month after biting a visitor at its owner’s house, police records show. The incident occurred on a Sunday in late January at an Oak Street home, according to a police case report obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. 

On Feb. 23, a child went to visit a friend at the residence and was bitten by a Bernese Mountain Dog after entering the home, according to the victim’s mother, cited in an incident report filed by Animal Control Officer Allyson Halm. The child was bitten on the right arm, hip and thigh areas, and afterwards was seen by a plastic surgeon, according to the report. The dog’s rabies vaccination was up-to-date, the report said.