Video: Black Bear Hears Voices While Foraging For Berries

SPOTSYLVANIA COURTHOUSE, VA — Residents in the Spotsylvania Courthouse area captured a medium-sized black bear on camera searching for food in their yard. The bear looked up suddenly after hearing one of the residents say something, as seen and heard on the Neighbors app video, but then went back to looking for berries a few seconds later.

Black bears in Virginia feed mainly on berries and fruits, nuts, grasses and insects. Their diet is approximately 75 percent vegetarian. Only rarely do they kill for food and when they do their prey is most always a young, injured or defenseless animal.

In the video, the residents estimated the bear's weight at about 125 pounds. Adult female black bears usually weigh between 90 and 180 pounds, while adult male bears can weigh between 130 and 650 pounts.

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Although interactions between bears and humans are rare, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries has some advice should you come across a black bear:

• Stay calm. If you see a bear and it has not seen you, calmly leave the area. As you move away, make noise to let the bear discover your presence.
• Stop. Back away slowly while facing the bear.
• Give the bear plenty of room to escape. Bears rarely attack people unless they feel cornered or provoked.
• Do not run or make any sudden movements. Running could prompt the bear to give chase, and you cannot outrun a bear. If on a trail, step off the trail and slowly leave the area.
• If a bear is in your yard and it approaches you, make yourself look big and make loud noises. Remain at a safe distance and throw rocks to make the bear feel unwelcome.
• If a bear is in your house, prop open all doors to the outside and get out of the way of the exit. Never close a bear into a room. Make noises and yell at bear to leave the house. Don't approach the bear but make sure it knows it is violating your territory.
• If you surprise a bear, speak softly. This may reassure the bear that you mean it no harm.
• Fight back. If a black bear attacks you, fight back. Black bears have been driven away when people have fought back with rocks, sticks, binoculars and even their bare hands.

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