Muddy paw prints, waist-high on the front door of the McEntire home off Small Tracts Road, may have been the death warrant for a brown bear neighbors said has become increasingly aggressive.
State troopers and biologists have given local police the go-ahead to put down the bruin.
The bear – of medium size, with light and dark rings on its face – broke through a door at the borough water plant on FAA Road, pushed in doors at the Small Tracts Road recycling center and broke into an empty shed at the Haines Animal Rescue Kennel numerous times, police chief Gary Lowe said.
It has ignored chickens, cherry trees, and gardens in favor of seeking food from homes, according to police.
In recent weeks, it entered two garages and a flower shed, and tried to force open a back door blocked by a freezer, said Lisa Flory, who lives on Small Tracts Spur Road. At McEntires,’ the bear entered the house by breaking through a plexiglass window on an attached sun room, she said. “He’s on a roll.”
The McEntires could not be reached for comment. Flory said she thinks the bear may have become habituated to eating at the landfill in previous years and said most recently it was breaking into rooms that held no food sources. At the recycling center on Small Tracts, the bear licks out empty peanut butter jars.
Curiously, though bold, the bear is also skittish when lights are turned on it. “Usually, when they’re that brave, they just turn and look at you,” said state wildlife trooper Ricky Merritt.
A bear exhibiting similar behavior was shot by a Small Tracts Road resident last year, but escaped.
The borough adopted new ordinances last year, tightening regulations for storing food and trash to keep them away from bears. The problem may be the bear not finding food where it found it last year, chief Lowe said.
Wildlife biologist Anthony Crupi said residents need to ensure garbage enclosures are truly bear-proof. A design for one using plywood and two-by-fours is at the Fish and Game website, he said. “A Rubbermaid plastic shed is not bear-proof.”