HOWARD COUNTY, MD — A school in Howard County has alerted families that black bear sightings have been reported in the area. Hammond Middle School said people have seen the animals in the area "very recently," in a notice Thursday afternoon.

One of the sightings was on the main campus of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory on Johns Hopkins Road, according to the report. The other sighting was in the 7700 block of Montpelier Road. Both locations are about 2 miles from Hammond Middle School, where staff reported wildlife officials were monitoring the situation.

In the event of a bear sighting on school property, the school will contact 911, recess will be limited and so will movement from portable classrooms. In addition, students will be advised to avoid isolated wooded areas. The Department of Natural Resources has not received any calls into its dispatch center about bear sightings in Howard County, spokeswoman Candy Thomson told Patch Thursday afternoon.

The Applied Physics Laboratory may have more information about the bears on Friday. It would not be the first time a black bear paid a visit to one of Maryland's research institutions. In June 2014, a bear spent several hours around the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, taking a stroll on campus and perching in a tree.

Typically, Maryland's black bear population is concentrated in Washington, Allegany, Frederick and Garrett counties, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

Sightings in populated areas are most common in June and July, when young bears wander away from rural areas as they look to establish their territory during the late spring through summer months.

A bear was spotted climbing a tree at the Timbers at Troy golf course in Elkridge in June 2016 and also put a school in Ellicott City on lockdown around that time as well. After a period of wandering, young bears usually settle in places with established bear populations in western Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. They typically make dens in wooded areas.

