MIDDLEBURY — While many people are gazing up at the trees on the town green in Middlebury to enjoy a view of the beautiful fall foliage this past weekend, a closer look reveals that most were looking at the Mama bear and her two cubs that had taken up residence right downtown.
The bear family was spotted trying to hide (unsuccessfully) among the vibrant yellow leaves in the 140-year-old oak tree just across the street from the Congregational Church of Middlebury.
Word has it that the trio likely had come down from Chipman Hill on Friday night or Saturday morning, perhaps to savor the delicacies available in the human trash receptacles.
One local photographer spotted the cubs just starting to climb the oak, prominently growing at the confluence of North Pleasant and Main streets, with the mother keeping watch at the base of the tree at around 6:45 a.m. on Saturday. The mother followed her offspring up the tree and watched as other human passersby stopped to do a double take and gaze wonderingly at the ursine family.
Middlebury police eventually got involved by cordoning off the area around the tree to keep people at a distance. The effort to keep the bears safe from the humans, and the humans safe from the bears was lauded as a great community effort.
Fish and Game Warden Justin Goodwin came to the scene on Sunday to determine what could be done. He told the Independent that shooting the bears with tranquilizer darts was not a likely solution since that would cause the bears to fall from a great height and likely cause injury.
Apparently the bears came down of their own accord after dark on Sunday night. Anyone stopping by to check out the unusual sight on Monday morning would only have found a few orange cones left sitting under the tree.
Look for a full story and more photos in the Addison Independent and online Thursday.
— John S. McCright
