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Search suspended for rambling bear in suburbs west of Boston

Print | Comments () Posted by Martin Finucane June 1, 2011 04:40 PM

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Kirk Bobkowski

Kirk Bobkowski took this picture of the bashful bruin on Tuesday.

By Mike Bello and Martin Finucane, Globe Staff, and Jenna Duncan, Globe Correspondent

Environmental police have suspended their search for a bear who has been rambling through the comfortable, leafy suburbs west of Boston.

The bear was last seen in a wooded area off of Route 126 near the Wayland-Framingham line, said Reginald Zimmerman, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Environmental Police.

He said officials would wait until there was another sighting of the bear, which is believed to have been responsible for recent sightings in Weston and sightings in Wayland today.

The last Weston sighting happened between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday night, near the intersection of Pine Street and Route 30. That's about three miles from the place where the bear was last seen in Wayland.

A different black bear was also spotted this morning in the Central Massachusetts town of Westminster. The bear was spotted on Route 2 East near Marker 88. Environmental police are also on their way to that scene, said Zimmerman.

E.J. Nichols, 18, of Wayland said he saw the bear today, sitting on a mound of dirt in an open area near the woods.

"He was just sitting, just kind of looking around, then he got up on all fours all leisurely and scooted into the woods," said Nichols.

In the Weston sighting on Wednesday evening, "Somebody spotted the bear at the base of a tree in the backyard of a home," said Sergeant Keith Kasprzak.

Kasprzak said police believe all of the sightings involve the same bear, believed to be a little larger than a cub.

"Anytime he has seen people, he has tried to take off,'' said the officer.

Kasprzak said several officers have taken pictures of the animal.

The Globe reports today that the bear had been spotted at least four times by Tuesday, foraging, walking around Weston, and generally making a quick exit when spotted by humans.