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On Tuesday afternoon, Dana Walters looked out the front porch window of her residence in the Blue Creek area south of Billings and saw a black bear and her cub staring back at her.

She was scared, Walters said, because she was watching a few kids that day and was grateful they weren’t playing outside. However, it wasn’t the first time she had seen the bears.

A few days before, the bears were digging through the garbage and snooping around Walters’ chicken coops and rabbit shelters. Her husband sprayed the sow with bear spray, and a few days later the family fired off a few rounds to scare them away.

“We’ve lived in this house for three years and this is the first time we’ve had any bear encounters,” Walters said.

After the first encounter, Walters removed the garbage and stored it inside. Her seven-member family lives in the home and she watches three kids a few days of the week.

“It hasn’t harmed us, and it hasn’t harmed chickens or our rabbits,” she said. “The bears are just curious.”

Bob Gibson, Fish Wildlife and Parks information and education manager, said that for the past few days, two or three different black bears have been reported in the Briarwood area.