Black bear strolls through Harpersfield

By STACY MILLBERG - Staff Writer - smillberg@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon

August 30, 2008 02:43 am

— HARPERSFIELD TOWNSHIP — Gitta Racinskas was shocked when she looked out her window Friday and saw something very different from a bird at her bird-feeder.
Racinskas had a black bear walk right through her backyard on State Road near Cork Cold Springs Road. This was the second sighting in the area as Racinskas heard a bear was seen on Boughner Road as well, she said.
“He walked right by our bird-feeder,” she said. “I’ve never seen a black bear here.”
Racinskas said the bear looked like an adult and was only about 35 to 40 feet away from her deck.
“It really came right through our backyard,” she said.
Racinskas said the bear was just sauntering through the yard until her husband noticed it and yelled for her to come to the window.
“He must have heard my husband yell because by the time I got to the window he started to run,” she said. “I’m really OK with it. I wasn’t too afraid. The bear is just trying to earn a living like the rest of us. I worry more about the (neighborhood) animals.”

After seeing the bear, Racinskas called her neighbors to alert them so they could bring their pets in the house. Racinskas also notified the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department and Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife.
“He looked like a friendly guy,” she said. “I’ve seen deer by our pond, turkeys and all kinds of wildlife, but never a bear.”
Black bear sightings in Ashtabula County are becoming more common with each passing day. ODNR reports sightings coming into the office daily. So far to date in 2008, there have been more than 20 black bear sightings, at least five of which have been confirmed, meaning there have been photographs or tracks seen, according to ODNR.