Date: Fri 25-Sep-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: STEVEB

Quick Words:

black-bear-Allen-horse

Full Text:

Is There A Bear Living In Newtown?

(with photo)

BY STEVE BIGHAM

Bear sitings in Newtown have occurred from time-to-time. But bears actually

living here? That's an entirely different story.

Terry Allen of Newtown believes there is a bear living on her parents'

property along Taunton Lake and she has the scars to prove it -- on her horse

Rosey O'Grady.

Last week, a chunk of the horse's hide was clawed off by what the Allens

believe could only have been a black bear. Two months earlier, a bear,

possibly the same bear, was seen rummaging through a garbage can on the same

property at 1 Taunton Lake Road.

"I'm a little worried about it," Ms Allen admitted. "We think the bear has

been living here for a couple of years now. I saw what I thought was a bear

here two summers ago."

Last spring, a large black bear was struck and killed by an oncoming vehicle

on Interstate 84 just west of Exit 9. That bear was thought to have wandered

from a wooded area in search of food or a mate.

Rosey O'Grady lives in a pasture behind the red barn near the intersection of

Taunton Lake Road and Mount Pleasant Road. On September 15, Terry's mother,

Delores Allen, went to feed the horse and noticed the scratch marks on the

back of Rosey's right side.

"These were two very deep digs. Four parallel lines up and down," Delores

Allen explained.

The Allens believe the bear may have been attracted to the Crisco oil Terry

often pours on Rosey's feet for hoof dressing.

Rosey, at 36, is old for a horse, and she tends to be quite passive. Her

companion, Starr, used to protect her, but he died this past spring from

colic.

Terry Allen has been photographing the horse's wound and taking measurements.

She has been sending the information to the Department of Environmental

Protection's wildlife unit for analysis.

Bears have been seen in this area more and more in recent years as they move

down from the heavily wooded northwestern Connecticut, home to most of the

state's bear population, according to Peter Good, a wildlife biologist for the

state.

Black bears are reclaiming an area where they were once well established.

Bears were once numerous in southern New England before the first of several

successive waves of deforestation that occurred after the arrival of European

colonists 300 years ago. By the end of the 19 Century, bears in Connecticut

were virtually unheard of, said Paul Rego, also of the state's wildlife unit.

Black bears are usually solitary animals and are non-aggressive under normal

circumstances.