A bear and its four cubs made themselves at home in an alcove underneath a New Jersey family’s porch — but critters’ cute appeal is quickly fading as the disgruntled residents consider humane ways to evict the pack.
The sleuth — or pack of bears — established a makeshift den beneath the porch at a family’s home in Oakland, New Jersey, in the fall and have been hibernating there for months until they finally emerged Tuesday.
At first, homeowner Veronica O’Brien-Lim and her family weren’t necessarily bothered by the squatters, though it was a little unnerving to have the protective mama bear so close.
She told ABC 7 that the furry family of five had a certain cute factor, especially the impish cubs, that made their unwanted presence a little more bearable.
O’Brien-Lim phoned the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife for advice and was told the bears should clear out soon — though they could return at any time.
As the cubs started to explore their stomping grounds, they rifled through the neighbors’ trash and even gnawed on the family’s central air unit.
Now, as the community slowly reaches its wits’ end, O’Brien-Lim is looking for a reprieve, but told the outlet that “any intervention is really a last course of action.”
“If [the NJDFW] haze the mother out, she would possibly run and abandon the cubs, and then they would have to find another sow to basically put them with. Or if they tranquilize her and caught the cubs, they would have to create a new den for them nearby,” she explained.
Other neighbors are also perturbed by the influx of sightseers, who have caused traffic jams on the block while trying to spy on the bears.
“The first week after [O’Brien-Lim] posted that they were under [her porch] before they started coming out really, it was like paparazzi here, cars driving by, people walking by, where are the bears? It’s not a zoo,” neighbor Donna VanRy told the outlet.
The sleuth left their den for the first time since hibernating on Tuesday morning. At some point during their short outing, one of the cubs was snared while trying to scale a fence.
It was freed by a Fish and Wildlife team and reunited with its mother. The pack continued its journey, though the rescuers warned they could return later Tuesday, or in the fall for hibernation again.
O’Brien-Lim told the outlet that they’ve been advised to board up the crawl space underneath the porch, effectively shutting out the bears.
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