Bear Chomps on Bird Feeders in Mullica Yard

From the Atlantic City Press Published: Tuesday, August 26, 2008

By ELAINE ROSE Staff Writer, 609-272-7215

MULLICA TOWNSHIP - Rick Littig's security cameras captured a vandal knocking down his bird feeders and casing his house, but despite the video evidence there's not much the police can do. The intruder was a bear, Littig said Monday.



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Littig said he got home from work Sunday night and sat down to watch the Phillies game in his home in the Devonshire section. He turned on his spotlight and noticed that his bird feeders, placed on top of 5-foot poles, were knocked to the ground, and wondered what kind of creature could do that damage.

So Littig checked his video surveillance system and saw that a bear had entered his property at about 4:15 p.m. Sunday.

"He was out there for nearly an hour," Littig said. The bear walked around the yard, knocked over a bird feeder and then cracked open the tube containing the seeds.

It "just laid down like a dog chewing a bone and chomped on the seeds for a while," Littig said. Then the bear knocked over the second bird-feeder pole, ate those seeds, walked around the perimeter of the house and apparently stopped for a drink in the fountain before heading back into the woods, Littig said.

Littig estimated the bear was about 5 feet long, but it was able to reach the feeders that were more than 6 feet high. He couldn't tell whether it was male or female.

When he called the police, he was told his was the third bear call in the township on Sunday, Littig said. One was at the trash transfer station, and the other was up the road from his house about half an hour after it visited his property.

As for the bird feeders, Littig said he will replace the poles, but only attach the tubes containing seeds when he and his wife are in the yard to enjoy watching the birds.

His property is in the woods, so visits from wildlife are to be expected, but this is the first time he's had a visit from a bear, Littig said.

"This is their territory, so you have to respect it," he said. "You can't leave the candy out for them, so to speak."

E-mail Elaine Rose: ERose@pressofac.com