Environment
“Please do not approach it if you see it and stay a good distance away.”
A black bear is not something you see every day in Stoughton, Massachusetts, so it’s possible the sight of one might inspire someone to attempt to pet it, hug it, or offer it a big pot of honey. Stoughton Police have some advice: Don’t do that.
“There has been a sighting of a black bear on Third Street on the Park Street side,” Stoughton Police wrote on Facebook on July 4. “Please do not approach it if you see it and stay a good distance away.”
The bear in question apparently is getting around the southeastern portion of the commonwealth. Just two days prior, Holbrook/Avon Animal Control posted a warning that a black bear meeting the same description had been spotted at Route 28 and N. Main Street on the Avon/Randolph line.
“Today while patrolling the area, Avon Police have confirmed 2 additional sightings in the area of DeMarco Park as well as D.W. Field Park,” they reported.
They also posted a photo of the alleged bear taken by a resident, in which it appears to be draining a hummingbird feeder, or possibly vaping.
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Why we’re seeing bears in southeastern Massachusetts
The following day, on July 3, Avon Police posted that “DW Field Parkway is currently closed, and the gates are being closed on South Street due to an active bear sighting in the area.”
Those sightings came on the heels of reported bear sightings in both Canton and Randolph, WCVB reported.
According to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, if you encounter a black bear unexpectedly, you should talk in a calm voice and slowly back away. This is in contrast with what you’re supposed to do when you run into a grizzly bear, which is play dead, or if you are attacked by a polar bear, which is, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, “fight back.” That would last approximately three seconds, so fortunately chances are very slim of running into a polar bear in Stoughton.
Peter Chianca
Peter Chianca, Boston.com’s general assignment editor since 2019, is a longtime news editor, columnist, and music writer in the Greater Boston area.
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