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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -
Since Friday, the Winston-Salem Police Department has received eight phone calls from people living along the city's western edge who claim they've seen bears in their yard.
The sightings have generally been in a part of the city where there are lots of business and lots of neighborhoods. Nearly a dozen people -- including a police officer -- say they've seen bears messing in garbage cans and bird feeders in the Country Club, Peace Haven and Robinhood Rd. vicinity.
Mark March, who loves inviting wildlife into his Woodrow Ave. home, was puzzled over the weekend when he discovered one of his many bird feeders broken and laying on the ground. He couldn't figure out why it was in pieces.
But according to the police, an unknown caller reported seeing a bear in March's yard around 6 p.m. Sunday. When police arrived, they saw the bear eating seeds before it ran away.
"Yeah, that kind of worries me," said March.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission says bear sightings are not uncommon this time of year. In fact, during the spring and summer mating season, young male bears tend to wander, and anything from garbage to bird seed will attract them.
Once they find an area with plenty to eat, bears will tend to return, wildlife officers say.
"We are used to having wild things come out of the woods, but it's usually deer and possums (and) raccoons and that kind of thing," said March.
The sightings have generally been in a part of the city where there are lots of business and lots of neighborhoods. Nearly a dozen people -- including a police officer -- say they've seen bears messing in garbage cans and bird feeders in the Country Club, Peace Haven and Robinhood Rd. vicinity.
Mark March, who loves inviting wildlife into his Woodrow Ave. home, was puzzled over the weekend when he discovered one of his many bird feeders broken and laying on the ground. He couldn't figure out why it was in pieces.
But according to the police, an unknown caller reported seeing a bear in March's yard around 6 p.m. Sunday. When police arrived, they saw the bear eating seeds before it ran away.
"Yeah, that kind of worries me," said March.
The North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission says bear sightings are not uncommon this time of year. In fact, during the spring and summer mating season, young male bears tend to wander, and anything from garbage to bird seed will attract them.
Once they find an area with plenty to eat, bears will tend to return, wildlife officers say.
"We are used to having wild things come out of the woods, but it's usually deer and possums (and) raccoons and that kind of thing," said March.
