Black bear seen again in Parma

Black bear seen again in Parma

The black bear still appears to be alive and well and roaming the roads of Parma. The last sighting was Tuesday, September 25 right before 9 p.m. at 147 Lighthouse Road.

Chris Adler-France wrote in an e-mail that she saw the bear standing over her knocked-over garbage tote outside the house. "My husband and I are fine -- we pulled the tote into the garage once the bear was gone and locked all the doors and windows. There's minimal damage to the tote," she wrote. "We do not ever let our two cats go outside, we know that some of our neighbors do let their pets outside, so we warned them this morning not to continue doing so."

The Adler-France's garbage tote has been knocked over and the garbage strewn across the lawn twice in the past two weeks, although Tuesday was the first time they had seen the bear. "When the tote was first knocked over and the garbage strewn about, we assumed it was a very industrious raccoon or possibly one of the coyotes we frequently hear. We thought it was a one-time occurrence," she wrote.

She said they will no longer leave the garbage tote outside.

"Needless to say, after I heard, through my bedroom window, the tote being knocked over, I flipped on our flood lights, opened the front door ... and was quite startled to see a dark, furry, form at least five feet tall about 15 or 20 feet away from me holding one of our trash bags, then shuffle away. I thought it was a prowler for a split second but realized it was, in fact, a bear."

Contact 911 or the DEC Avon office at 585-226-5380 for information or sighting reports.