When a NJ homeowner discovered a black bear was inside her home, West Milford police came and fatally shot the animal. But then the bear died outside, with "two of her cubs were clinging to her." A third cub was 50 feet high up in a tree.
Larry Raognese of the NJ State Department of Environmental Protection told the Bergen Record, "When a bear enters a home, it's a bad day for a bear. Bears that enter homes are euthanized" because it suggests they aren't afraid of humans or their homes.
The homeowner, Donna DiMino, was visiting a neighbor, and when she got back to her Bearfort Road abode, she found garbage strewn all over the floor. The bear had entered through the screen door.
West Milford Police Captain Richard Florilla explained, "This was a Category 1 bear that entered a home, caused property damage, and the bear was put down."
A tree service worker helped wildlife officials retrieved the bear cub in the tree. When the worker ascended in the cherry picker, the bear kept rising higher and higher. Finally, he caught the cub.
The cubs, which seem to be about six months old, are being kept with rehabilitators until they are old enough to return to the "wild." Ragonese warned that homeowners shouldn't treat the bear cubs that come onto their property like pets, explaining, "We tell people who feed bears that they are just harming them. They are wild. They're meant to be outdoors, not in your house."
