A Bear at Augustine's Farm in Greenwich

Something was amiss when Kathy Augustin looked out her front window as she and her husband John prepared for another day of getting their backcountry farm ready for the season and the opening of their farm stand.

One of the birdhouses John had made was missing. She found the birdhouse, mounted atop an eight-foot metal pole and anchored into the ground by a footlong pipe perpendicular to the pole, laying near the hedges of their King Street home. The roof had been chewed and the family of wrens was gone, Kathy said.

A short time later as the couple tended to their nearly 10-acre farm, Kathy discovered the bear paw prints amid some trampled snapdragons. The bear’s prints were at least six inches long and there were clear imprints of its claws in the mud.

“I think he came in from King Street. Then he walked through the mud to the peach tree and pushed and bent it to the ground, looking for food,” Kathy said. The peach tree is about 10-feet tall — grown from a pit planted by their employee Gerard about 10 years ago.

The young tree, laden with peaches about the size of a quarter, was akimbo with tatters of yellow plastic tape fluttering in the wind. And in its effort to gather food, Kathy believes the bruin shook the tree, leaving the peaches scattered on the ground.

They didn’t realize the bear was at the peach tree until later in the day of June 3 when they noticed the tape used to mark the tree that stands in front of their wood pile was torn.

Kathy surmises the bear then took a nap … after it scaled the massive maple tree outside her front door. “Look at the branches that are broken. We didn’t have any wind overnight that would do that,” Kathy said as she pointed to the broken branches.

The whereabouts of the bear isn’t known but spokesman for the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Dennis Schain said, “There are places where they are seen much more often than in lower Fairfield County…but we do get reports of them there from time to time.

“We do not respond to every report of a bear…unless there is threat to safety of people or the animal, they are left to wonder (sic) on their way.

“It is important for people to not have food sources in their yards…bird feeders, garbage cans that can be tipped over, leftovers in bar-b-que areas…or else bears will keep coming back.”

For years, the couple has used an area on the south side of the farm “where we put the overripe melons, corn that’s too old in a pile … we have trained the deer, the raccoons — they know they can find food there and leave our crops alone,” Kathy said.

And it was on that site three years ago that Kathy spotted a large bear foraging. “I came down the driveway and saw this black spot. I backed up and looked again and saw the bear. He had a piece of cantaloupe hanging out its mouth,” she recalled.

“I think it’s important for people to know there are bears around,” Kathy said. “We have the golf course (Griffith Harris Golf Course and Fairview Country Club) and schools (Brunswick’s lower and middle schools) here.”

Kathy said she’s thankful that the bear didn’t raid her chicken and rooster coops or the beehives that sit behind their farm stand that will officially open for the season on Friday, June 19.

The farm stand is stocked with eggs from Kathy’s hens, honey from the beehives, plants that they grow from seed, and early produce including some tasty fresh lettuces and arugula. They will be open daily at 10 a.m.

*Editor’s note: this story was updated to reflect the change of the official opening date at the farm.

Photos: Kathy Augustin with the broken birdhouse and with her plants; greenhouses filled with plants ready for the ground; the damaged peach tree. Credit: Barbara Heins.