A Bear Sighting in McLean: What You Should Do

As black bears look for food to pack on weight for the winter, like the black bear that showed up on the deck of a McLean home Monday, they sometimes end up in heavily populated areas looking for their next meal.

That means black bear sightings in Fairfax County aren’t as unusual as people may think.

Lucy Caldwell, a Fairfax County Police spokeswoman, said they don’t have an exact number of sightings, but it’s not uncommon to see black bears around the area this time of year and people shouldn’t be surprised when they see them.

“Most often they will move through the area if they don’t find food,” Caldwell said.

Monday’s sighting in McLean Monday startled homeowner Diane Landry, but experts believe bears are becoming less fearful of interacting with humans.

• See: Bear Spotted in a McLean Backyard

Fairfax County Animal Control suggest you take the following precautions to keep bears and other wildlife away from your home:

• Do not store trash on porches, decks or in vehicles.

• If a bear is sighted in your neighborhood, remove birdfeeders.

• Take garbage to the curb on the morning of pickup, rather than the night before.

• Consider installing electric fencing around gardens, dumpsters and other potential wildlife sources. Electric fencing is an inexpensive and efficient proven deterrent against bears.

“Wildlife photographers think it’s a good idea to get close to bears in the wild and some people even think it’s a good idea to keep bears as pets,” said bear expert and Texas A&M University professor Diana Doan-Crider. “Every time we do that, we teach bears it’s ok to come near humans.”

Crider, an expert in ecosystem science and management, said bears could spend up to six months in caves hibernating and need to pack on weight before then. Bears think about food all the time and their travels are usually the result of a search for a meal. Crider said bears know they can find food in areas inhabited by humans and are showing up more in those areas.

“As the bear population increases and the human population expands into undeveloped areas usually inhabited by bears, they know they can find food,” Crider said. “Bears have to spend most of their time putting on weight to make it through the winter. For females with cubs, it’s even more critical to put on weight.”