Oh, I cannot even begin to count how often I see bears here in Phoenicia. It's like the bear capital of NY. Conspiracy theories abound that NJ forest rangers deposit their nuisance bears up here.
I just saw a large male 3 days ago walk across my front lawn, down through my apple orchard, and into the village to raid the pizza parlor dumpster. Bears come on our front porch all the time, one came up to our screened door one summer morning while we were eating breakfast - must have smelled the bacon. They walk past our patio doors while we're watching TV. I see them often on my early morning runs before work, getting into people's garbage cans. Once even climbed into my car while it was parked in my driveway in the middle of the day, I had the windows down and had just run into the house for 10 minutes to drop off mail and go back out, he was literally sitting in the driver's seat leaning out the side window looking at me while I screamed at him to get off my leather upholstery. Too bad I was too upset to think to take a video or I could have sold it to Volkswagon. I could go on, but you get the picture. They are destructive and tore apart a bluebird house I had been watching all spring one year, just about when the babies were to fledge. So I worry that they'll break into my chicken coop once it is occupied. My only hope is that the smell of my dog and the 7 foot fence will keep them out of my fenced backyard, so far it has, they steer clear of that area.
I also regularly see coyote, fisher, fox, owls, hawks, bald eagles, and even a bobcat on my land. It is very wild, deep forest in this part of the Catskills and I have no neighbors within sight, even though I can walk into the village from here. A coyote took my cat 4 years ago, I don't let my current 2 cats outdoors now. I would bet you have a lot of coyotes too where you are, esp. if you are backed up to those woods by Stewart.
