NORTHAMPTON — It’s springtime in Northampton again, and that can only mean one thing — the bears are back.

A crowd of onlookers gathered around the Hampshire County Courthouse Sunday to catch a glimpse of a black bear that made its way up one of the trees in front of the building.

The Northampton Police Department and Massachusetts Environmental Police responded to the scene, hoping to entice the bear to come down from the tree. When it became apparent that the bear had no intention of leaving the area, police resorted to a tranquilizer dart, which caused it to fall out of the tree, though did not sustain any serious injuries, according to Northampton Police.

The bear was then transported by environmental police to an undisclosed state forest, where it was released to the wild.

Before Sunday’s incident, several Northampton residents along Graves Avenue had reported seeing the black bear, a particularly large one, over the past several days. The bear had been seen climbing trees, walking around the neighborhood, and caused damage to a resident’s fence. The bear also appeared to have an injury on one of its hind legs, causing it to walk with a limp.

Susan Parker, a resident of Graves Avenue, said she first saw the bear last Tuesday while visiting her neighbor.

“We heard a noise and looked outside, and there it was,” she said. “Apparently it was there the day before, too.”

Dave Wattles, a black bear biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said that a bear matching the description of one seen from last week had been repeatedly spotted in the area over the past year, having been seen around the Florence area and central Northampton.

“This bear had a healed broken leg, most likely from a vehicle collision,” Wattles said. “Fortunately these are very strong and robust animals, and they are able to recover from such injuries.”

Emily Stolarski, a spokesperson for MassWildlife, said it’s not unusual for bears to wander into neighborhood areas, but that residents should exercise caution if they see the bear.

“Northampton is a place where bears are really close to people, so it’s not out of the ordinary,” she said. “That being said, it’s not exactly a good thing either.”

Bears can often wander into neighborhoods, attracted by food sources such as bird feeders or garbage cans. They may frequently return to that area if they successfully find food, gradually losing their fear of humans, but putting them at risk for injury such as from car accidents.

The Northampton Police Department advises anyone who sees a bear in their yard to try to scare it off by using pots or pans or an airhorn to make loud noises.

“Once the bear has left the area, take a close look at your yard for potential bear food sources such as bird feeders, pet food, dirty barbeque grills, open compost, or trash, and remove those food sources immediately,” the department’s website states. “Bears have incredible long-term memory and will revisit places where they have found food, even months or years later.”

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.

]]>