BALTIMORE — Monday of last week, a large visitor was seen strolling through Howard County, but it's not a guest you'd want to stick around.
"My son called me about 2:30 in the afternoon and he's not home and I’m like where are you at and he goes I’m on a modified lockdown and I’m like what are you talking about, and he goes there's a bear in the neighborhood,” said Bob Luke who had a bear wonder though his backyard.
Luke lives down the street from his son’s school and says he then became curious when he noticed something off in his backyard.
"So then I go out on my deck and I’m watering the plants and I looked over and I see my bird feeder just completely bent and no sign of bird food and I’m like oh crap,” said Luke.
He then checked the camera that's posted in his backyard only to find the bear had also paid his home a visit.
"So then right away I thought, luckily I didn't have my dog out at the same time, my small dog," said Luke.
But the traveler wasn't done making rounds. The bear was caught on camera on the neighbor’s patio at 12:30 that night, sniffing around planters before moving on.
"There were reports of a bear in the area but we never expected it to be on your actual property itself and to see something that big. I have younger children so that was my first concern,” said Christina Meyer who also sighted a bear sighted in her backyard.
People are wondering why more sightings are happening in unexpected places.
"I’ve lived here for over 42 years and never had a bear before, at least not that I’m aware of,” said Bob Muller who had a bear wondering though his yard.
But it's actually common around this time for bears to travel out, according to Maryland DNR Bear Biologist Jonathan Trudeau.
“It's a time of year when young bears disperse, they're leaving their natal range and trying to find a new range where they can live out the rest of their lives and that occasionally means they have to go a long distance,” said Trudeau.
He says bears look for a space that no other bears occupy, and that migration is also playing a role in these sightings.
"What we are seeing is bears popping up more frequently eastward and that's kind of the trend we've been seeing over the last few decades is our bear density is increasing over time as we move east a little bit,” said Trudeau.
Howard County, wasn't the only area with a bear sighting.
Fallston High School, a school in Harford County, had to go on a brief lockdown Monday afternoon for the same reason.
A bear was sighted near the building.
RELATED: Fallston High School placed on brief lockdown due to bear sighting near building
A large black bear was also tranquilized after camping out in a tree and running through backyards in a Northeast DC community.
RELATED: Large black bear tranquilized after roaming around Northeast DC neighborhood
If you spot a bear, Trudeau says to keep calm and back away slowly with your arms up to appear bigger. Keeping trash inside until pickup and removing enticing food options is a way to keep them away. For a full list of DNR resources on bear sightings click here.
