‘Oh Boy’ 6 Hungry Bears Spotted Next to New York Home

Six hungry bears were spotted looking for food near some southern New York homes last week. While it is highly unlikely for bears to venture into the city of Buffalo, there are bears in the suburbs and more rural, wooded areas. Here are tips on how to make sure this doesn't happen to you.

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Bears are waking up from hibernation and are in search of food. Patty Kiersten was hoping to get a picture of a fox when she was shocked to spot six bears next to a bird feeder.

"Oh Boy.....Take the Bird Feeders down...Before the Bears do! Hoping to get a picture of the visiting Fox on the Trail Cam....Instead, 5 Yearlings and a Sow." Kiersten wrote while sharing photos. Kiersten says the photos were taken early Thursday in the Black Dirt Region of Goshen, New York.

When bears have access to human foods, it encourages behaviors that can put bears at risk. While bears can be intimidating, they generally try to avoid getting into conflicts with people, officials say.

The DEC released the following steps to avoid conflicts with bears:

Around Dwellings

• Remove all bird feeders;
• Keep garbage, grills, pet food, and bird seed inside a solid, secure structure (house, shed, garage, etc.);
• If grills cannot be secured, move grills away from houses and remove grease traps after each use;
• Put garbage on the curb the morning of collection, not the night before, and use bear-resistant trash containers; and
• Close garage doors and ground-floor windows/doors at night.