Lower Burrell police and residents reported seeing a black bear at several locations over the past several days.

Police said the bear was seen in the Braeburn Heights and Spooky Hollow areas.

Residents reported spotting the bear in the last several days along Garvers Ferry, White Cloud and Wildlife Lodge roads, Shank Drive and Widmer Avenue.

Police urge residents not to feed bears, to secure their garbage and keep an eye on their pets. The Pennsylvania Game Commission recommends residents take down bird feeders and put away any potential food for the bears.

One resident reported that the bear looked to be 1- to 2-years-old.

In early spring to summer, these young bears are pushed out by their mothers, which are starting to breed again, according to the commission. The young bears are looking for new territory and some of them get lost and end up in suburban and urban areas where bears don’t typically live, according to the commission.

On Monday evening, Mike Moses of Lower Burrell, who lives at Garvers Ferry and Edgeview roads, saw a young bear in his backyard.

“It was just standing along the back wall of my house and knocked over a lawn ornament,” he said. Then, Moses’ dog, which was in the house, started to bark at the bear. “The bear lumbered off real slow and didn’t seem to have a care in world,” he said.

Typically, these young bears will just pass through an area, according to the commission. However, if the bear becomes a nuisance, a game warden will investigate and try to catch or trap the animal and release it in a more appropriate location.

For more information on black bears, visit the commission’s website.

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