MONSEY- Black bear eating trash

MONSEY — Amy Gottlieb usually lets her children walk to the end of her driveway to catch the bus.

But bears have forced the Carlton Road mother of five school-aged children to drive her kids, ranging in age from 5 to 16, instead.

American black bears have been seen roaming the neighborhood — checking out trash cans as they seek food.

"It's scary," Gottlieb said Tuesday. "My kids can't go outside."

Since residents have to put their garbage cans at the curb, she's afraid the bears will be down near the corner. She won't let her children walk to the bus stop.

"I have to drive them down to the bottom of the driveway to the bus," she said. "I have a long driveway — about one-tenth of a mile."

Not only were there two bear sightings in her neighborhood — where many people walk to school and synagogue — but another one was reported traveling the roads of Wesley Hills.

Ramapo police monitor the bears but there's not much they can do about the animals.

In the past, the police have worked with the state Department of Environmental Conservation to tranquilize bears and relocate the animals to less populated areas.

"We do have a bear seen roaming around Wesley Hills," Ramapo Sgt. Robert Bassett said Tuesday. "He likes to eat people's garbage. He comes and goes. He's not really a threat to anybody."

Like most years, bears find themselves coming out of the state parklands and mountains and wandering through suburban Rockland. They start during the spring after the winter hibernation and the snow melts.

The bears have been seen solo and or in threes. They've been caught in trees, or spotted walking through backyards or trash-can scrounging.

The state recently helped escort a momma bear and two cubs out of Rockland — where they wandered from Pomona down through Clarkstown.

The adult bear was tranquilized and the two cubs taken from a tree. All three were relocated to an upstate wilderness area by the Department of Environmental Conservation officers.

The black bear is the smallest bear species in North America, running up to 7 feet long and 300 to 600 pounds. They are usually omnivorous — eaters of plants, nuts, insects and honey. They can eat young deer, fish and small mammals .

During the past 20 years, experts say, black bears have been expanding their range throughout New York and are now common, even in heavily populated areas. An estimated 7,000 black bears live in New York and state law prohibits people from feeding them.

Experts recommend residents discourage bears by not putting garbage cans outside until just before pickup and by spraying the cans with ammonia.

Bird seed in bird feeders can attract bears.

For residents like Gottlieb, bears don't belong in populated areas like Rockland.

She said the police and DEC need to be more aggressive.

"Tranquilize them and move them somewhere else," Gottlieb said. "I don't want them killed. But do something."