One Connecticut family’s lighthearted afternoon basketball game devolved into a scary encounter when a curious black bear wandered onto their property. Footage shared with WFSB 3 Eyewitness News shows the frightening moment.
In the video, Simsbury resident Kristen Lee and her sister can be seen sitting in lawn chairs facing three young children, including a small toddler, who are playing basketball in the driveway. Suddenly, a black bear emerges from behind the women and slowly makes its way to the pavement. The oldest child, possessing an admirable instinct of self-preservation, simply shouts, “Bear!” and flees into the home.
The toddler screams, which finally alerts the adults to the curious creature lurking behind them. With great haste, they grab the kids and book it into the house. “How do you close this?” one woman can be heard as she struggles with the screen door. After a moment of silence, the other exclaims, “Holy s--t!”
However, the bear seemed to have no interest in the family at all. Lee later confirmed that point while speaking with WFSB 3. In the footage, it crosses the family’s driveway while sniffing the ground with little interest.
'Bear coming!!!'????
— WFSB Channel 3 (@WFSBnews) August 22, 2024
A family in #Simsbury caught this unexpected encounter on camera.
????Kristin Leehttps://t.co/zqDST333dI pic.twitter.com/rK8JWBQuoV
Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection confirmed to the outlet that the state’s black bear population has drastically increased in recent years. Since 2023, residents in 165 of Connecticut’s 169 towns have reported bear sightings. Just a few weeks ago, in a town about 50 miles from Simsbury, a golden retriever chased a menacing black bear away from a four-year-old child
“With the number of bears increasing in the state, it is important for residents to learn the facts about black bears and how to coexist with them,” the department advised.
