BOXFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A bear spotted bumbling around Boxford has become a bit of a celebrity among the locals.
For the past few days, a black bear has made multiple appearances in the Essex County town.
One resident, Betty Hearne, told 7NEWS that one day, she heard rustling in the woods near her house. By the next day, the visitor made himself known.
“My husband thought I was a little crazy. I didn’t, I thought it was a bear,” said Hearne.
The next morning, there the animal was, right in their backyard.
“He ate all the apples in our apple tree,” Hearne said. “He took a cover off of my husband’s beehive but didn’t eat the honey.”
She added that she now has “bear snot” on the glass of her door.
The bear has turned into the talk of the town, frequently popping up in the community Facebook page as locals track its movements. There is even a poll on what to name the bear
“They are calling him Boxy, Bruin – I think there is a poll up on the residents page to figure out what they want to call him,” said Boxford resident Duke DeVilling.
Mark Hayden told 7NEWS he was doing yard work when he spotted the bear.
“Sure enough, a bear came right across the street,” said Hayden. “He was moving slow, but he was on the move.”
Chuck Kornely even caught the bear right outside his front door.
“It was quite exciting, All of the sudden you see this big nose, I didn’t expect to see him there but all of the sudden it’s like, ‘Oh, hi bear!’ said Kornely.
The bear also got a hold of one neighbor’s bird feeder.
“He finished the whole thing off. It was neat. He picked it up a couple times and kind of dumped it out and sniffed around,” said DeVilling. “He ate every last piece of the bird feeder then just kind of moseyed off.”
Boxford Police Department are reminding residents to make sure to keep their distance from the bear, and to make sure trash is put away, in addition to removing any bird feeders, trash and anything else the bear may be attracted to.
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