MAHANOY CITY — Mahanoy Township has bear problems, and the supervisors are advising residents to be observant in the great outdoors and hide the food.
During Thursday’s meeting, township Chairman James Stevens said there are certain things to do to keep bears from being a problem on a property.
“Be careful of the bears. Try to do what you can with your garbage so they can’t smell it or get at it, and take inside your bird feeders,” Stevens said. “If you have problems, call the office and we’ll keep calling the Pennsylvania Game Commission about the different areas where the problems are.”
Stevens said there are multiple bears being sighted in the township during the daytime and nighttime. Some sighting have included mother bears with cubs, with Stevens advising to be extra careful in those circumstances.
“Please don’t get near any bear with cubs. You don’t want to get between them and the cubs. Keep your distance,” Stevens said. “Please be careful.”
During the public portion, the supervisors heard comments from Patriotic Hill resident Anne Locher about four bears in her yard getting into a garbage can and damaging a bird feeder
“I have a theory about those bears,” Locher said. “Those bears have been down in Patriotic Hill more than several times. It has been a couple of times a week. They ripped my trash and pulled it through my yard. They come in the morning and night for several weeks.”
Locher believes that the strip mining operation by Reading Anthracite Co. behind the St. Nicholas Breaker in nearby Suffolk disturbed or removed the bears’ den and living area and has caused them to move elsewhere, which happens to be Patriotic Hill and her property. Other animals have also been seen.
“We saw a red fox, a white fox, and we’ve seen several different animals that I haven’t seen since I’ve lived in Patriotic Hill,” Locher said.
Stevens said there are wooded areas that have been removed, and the bears are moving around for food and because it is breeding season.
“The main thing is watch your garbage and they love bird feed,” he said. “I suggest take the bird feeders in, because I do. I keep my garbage in my garage.”
“We have six children under 5 years old who play every day outside,” Locher said. “We’re always with them, but what happens if they show up?”
“They’re wild animals and you can’t predict what they’ll do. Most time they won’t come near, but when they have young, you’ve got to beware,” Stevens said. “We’ll do what we can.”
“It’s all over Schuylkill County,” Supervisor Jason Dudash said. “If you look on Facebook, people are taking pictures in Pottsville. I’ve seen one in Minersville. It’s not just our area.”
Stevens told Locher that if there is a sighting to call the municipal building at that time.
“And we don’t take steps into their own hands either by shooting them,” Dudash said.
Earlier in the day, Stevens said by phone that sightings of bears have increased this year compared to previous years.
“There are problems with bears throughout the township. We hoped that that game commission could capture one or two who have been hanging out near the day care,” Stevens said, referring to the Child Development Inc. center in the township just north of Mahanoy City.
“I’ve seen them up by my house, and my son has seen them at his house,” Stevens said. “They’re being spotted, and I couldn’t tell you if it’s the same two or three bears or if they’re different ones. It looks like the two near the day care and my house are the same two bears — a big one and a smaller one, but that was in the evening. They don’t seem to be traveling together.”
Stevens said the bears are wandering the area for sustenance.
“They’re looking for food and there’s nothing out there yet, so the bears are raiding garbage cans,” he said. “About a month or so ago I understand that a bear was trapped at Maple Hill. I’m not sure if it just came back after being removed or if it’s a different one.”
Bird feeders are also targets for the hungry bruins.
Stevens said a neighbor told him when she was driving from Shenandoah to Brandonville last week she saw a mother bear and three cubs crossing state Route 924.
“Bears can travel quite a distance in a day,” Stevens said, noting that the area is not very far from the Patriotic Hill area. “The bears are out and there seems to be more of them than usual from what I’m hearing from different people. What do you do about it? You can’t trap them all. You have to make sure your garbage is put away so they can’t get at it. If they get garbage one time, they’re going to keep coming back. That’s their major food source this time of year.”
After the meeting, Police Chief Brandon Alexander said that he did contact the game commission on Thursday and spoke with a dispatcher and was waiting for a return call. He and Officer Jonathan Troyer have seen a bear at the day care center often.
“We’ve been seeing a bear near Child Development every day,” Alexander said, adding that Troyer has taken some photos and a video at the site.
Stevens said he would follow up Alexander’s call to the game commission with his own today.