http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006605110314 Money Quote: Good God almighty!" Wanda Williams said upon learning a bear had been spotted on her street. "Why would a bear want to be in Newark?"
Bobda, According to the article, the score is Joisey 2, Bears 0. I find it amazing that bears would roam the neighborhoods of New Jersey.
"GEEZ Wanda wada you from, California? Da bear was goin' to da stadium to see Da Bears play!" My father grew up watching guys like Joe Gordon and Charlie Keller play minor league ball for the Newark Bears under managers such as Walter Johnson, Tris Speaker, and Bob Shawkey. They used to play Down Neck in Ruppert Stadium which was torn down in the late '60's when I was in college in Newark, NJIT. Seems everything in Newark then was either being torn down or burned down. I think there also used to be a semipro football team known as The Newark Bears. While the Newark metro area has long been urbanized to the west lies South Mountain Reservation, Watchung Mountain Reservation, and Great Swamp Wildlife Reservation. Areas west of there went suburban when I 287 when in but there are still a lot of large acreage estates and state parks that a bear could lumber through avoiding human contact. I used to canoe the Delaware rapids north of Port Jervis (where NJ, PA, and NY intersect. Bear sitings weren't unusual. Both sides of the Delaware River from the NY line south to East Stroudsburg are part of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreational Area. Bears swim the Delaware to get to the other side. The Trenton bear could have come down through Warren and Hunterdon counties or crossed the Delaware from Bucks Co. Hell, the original "W", George Washington did it 200 years ago standing!
New Jersey put a moratorium on bear hunting a long time ago when the estimated count of black bears hovered around 100. Since then the count has swelled to well over 2000. They started a limited hunt two years ago. I live at the shore, hardly bear country. Yet we had at least a dozen confirmed sitings in Monmouth county last year. They say a single bear can range 60 miles. So 2000 of 'em can cover a lot of ground. One was spotted last year on the New Jersey Turnpike!
Yeah, you guys can laugh, but I just hope AJNJ's pet monkey is safe living in his backyard treehouse...
if only those damned bears would learn the language, then they could read the signs and know they aren't welcome. maybe we should call the national guard?