They were taking the dog out but the dog was quite unsettled. What was going on?
Vincent Dashukewich and his girlfriend noticed that their dog was suddenly scared to go outside.
Did something happen?
They did live in a sizable property with lots of nature around.
Was there another animal scaring their dog?
The answer to that question is yes and no.
Yes, there was another animal.
And no, the animal isn’t doing anything to scare the dog.
In fact, the animal isn’t doing anything at all.
When Vincent checked outside their house to discover the cause of their dog’s fear, he discovered that there was a big, black bear sleeping under the deck.
Yes, you read that right, a big, black bear.
It’s the winter season in the US, which is also a season of hibernation for bears.
Typically, they hibernate anywhere from a few weeks to eight months.
You can’t really know for sure how long a bear will hibernate.
One thing is sure though, do not disturb a hibernating bear.
Tyler had already reached out to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) to remove the bear.
They told him there is no need to disturb the bear.
The bear is sleeping and can’t harm anyone.
In case the bear does wake up and cause a disturbance, Tyler and his girlfriend can blow an air horn or flash bright lights to get the bear to leave.
If the bear still doesn’t leave, that is when DEEP can intervene.
They haven’t had any untoward incident with the bear since discovering it more than a week ago on New Year’s weekend.
“[The bear has been super chill.] I’ve gone out to check on him a few times and he hasn’t really moved,” Vincent, Tyler’s brother, told WTNH. “We’re trying to keep our distance, but he is cute.”
DEEP said that it was unusual to see black bears in Connecticut before the 1800s.
Because of forest growth though, they have become a more common sight.
Plus they’ll even hibernate underneath your deck.
One good thing about having a bear in your home is that no one’s going to mess with you.
Kidding aside, if you do want to prevent this from happening in the future, there are a few solutions that you can use to live in a bear-free house.
These solutions range from simple to “it’s gonna take some work to do this.”
First is to make sure to eliminate smells that can entice bears to come to your property.
If you have bird feeders at home, clean up the food scraps that the birds leave.
Feed your pet indoors.
If you do feed them outside, make sure that scraps are thrown away and bowls are washed.
Don’t let the garbage out until right before its pick-up time.
Make sure the garbage bag is double-bagged and clean your garbage bin regularly.
You can also install motion-detector water sprays or bright lights to scare off the bears.
And if you have a deck, like Tyler, add steel grills to prevent anything from crawling under the deck.
When the bear leaves, Tyler will probably do that, too.
Learn more about this bear when you watch the video below.
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