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Video: NJ Bears Are Digging This Warm Weather, Too
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 26, 2017
Modified Apr 2, 2018
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 26, 2017
Modified Apr 2, 2018
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News flash: Humans aren't the only ones who have been enjoying this totally normal unseasonably warm FEBRUARY weather we've been having.
Vernon, NJ resident Arne Bruhns filmed the bears in his backyard. According to NBC New York, he "said it's not unusual to see bears in his Vernon yard in the summer, but this is the first time he's seen them in February."
Bruhns said his kids were playing outside on Saturday when they saw the bears from a distance. They came inside and 10 minutes later, five bears were in his yard.
The bears pawed against a tree and several of them used the trunk to scratch their backs before running off.
In 2015, Dave Chanda, director of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, told NJ 101.5 FM, “Black bears in New Jersey aren’t true hibernators. They will stay active all winter long if there’s abundant food available and we have quite a few bears that you’ll see active in January, February and even with the winter that we had last year."
Here are more NJ bear tips (PDF)—it's supposed to get to 68 degrees on Wednesday!
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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