Bear Visits Blue Back Square In West Hartford: Report

WEST HARTFORD, CT — It appears Hartford County bears this year are playing a rather unique came of "anything you can do ..."

In an apparent game of oneupsbearship, a black bear was seen in West Hartford Monday strolling through, of all places, Blue Back Square in the middle of the day, according to WFSB Channel 3.

A viewer sent in shocking footage of what it claimed was a bear strolling around the popular shopping destination on Memorial Road.

According to the footage, Blue Back did not appear to too crowded and the climbing over small fences and walls and gently strolling around a statue. (Of course, the lack of crowd in the footage could just be shoppers be aware of the bear.) (Watch the video here).

Of course, bears have been getting more and more brazen this year, it seems, with several area communities dealing with them on a regular basis.

Among the more notable bear incidents reported in 2023 are:

• A bear charging a bakery worker in Avon.

• A bear crashing the Town of Avon's Memorial Day parade.

• A bear attacking a woman walking her dog in Avon.

• A bear spending time in a tree in the middle of Hartford.

Those are in addition to multiple incidents of bears, literally, letting themselves into homes throughout the area.

Experts say development encroaching on bear habitats is leading to these encounters, with bear sightings becoming as common as deer sightings these days.

To watch the footage of the bear strolling through Blue Back Square in West Hartford, click on this link.

For more information on bears in Connecticut, click on this link.