Simsbury 3-Year-Old Comes Face-To-Face With Bear Cub: Report

SIMSBURY, CT — A three-year-old boy from Simsbury met a new friend over the weekend — though they opted to keep a protective glass shield between them as they got to know each other.

A photo of the encounter, which the little boy's mom shared with NBC Connecticut, shows the him staring through a window of the family home as a bear cub makes eye contact from outside, holding its paw up to the pane.

Samantha Welch described more details of the encounter to the outlet.

Earlier this month, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection announced that black bear activity had begun to increase following the winter hibernation period.

"No matter where you live in Connecticut, you could encounter a bear, as sightings have been recorded in all 169 towns and cities," the department said. "Bears are also reproducing across almost half of the state, continuing a long-term trend of expansion into more cities and towns. Just seven years ago, bears with cubs were reported in fewer than 50 towns, while over the last several years, bears with cubs have been reported in more than 90 towns."

The department emphasized the important of preventing conflict between humans and bears, adding that a key part of that is preventing bears from giving access to human food.

"Once black bears start to consume these human-associated foods, they become habituated (comfortable near people) and food-conditioned (associate humans, houses, and neighborhoods with food)," the DEEP said. "Food-conditioned bears pose a greater risk to public safety and often cause more property damage to houses, cars, pets, and livestock than non-food-conditioned bears."

To learn more best practices for reducing the likelihood of an encounter with a bear, visit DEEP’s "Living with Black Bears" webpage, or see the practices summarized on in a video here.