Firefighter captures close encounter with bear on camera Share Shares Copy Link Copy

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Bear sightings are nothing new in Spencer. In fact the majority of the town is made up of this - woods. And residents in townare no strangers to the residents of the forest. On the beat Spencer Firefighter Dave Hoyt has seen it all. Well - almost. 16:55:37 "I've never seen a bear scale a fence before, so I was a little unsettled." His encounter with a black bear outside the town's fire station this week is a normal part of lifein this town of 12 thousand. But THIS video - that he took a day prior - was a little too close for comfort. 16:55:54 "Neighbor down the street called, told me Yogi was on his way to pay me a visit." 16:56:13 "Ended up just walking through the driveway - right across the driveway like nothing - like he owned the place." The curious bear wandered up the front stepslooked around and stared at Dave and his family through a windowbefore walking away. 16:56:27 "Just sat on the front steps, checking out the bird feeders, then he realized we were watching him through the window, and I don't think he cared for the audience." The rendezvous was dramatic - but not rare. NAT - 'Is he walking down the driveway?' Here's a bear two weeks ago in the parking lotof Town Hall. And anotherin a backyard. And anothertravelingwit h three of her cubs. 16:57:54 "It's a growing problem is this town, because we have a lot of state forest." So much of a problempolice told us they get a call at least once a week. And while they say they can't do muchthey DID post a Facebook message Thursday Asking residents to secure their trashavoid bird feeders and install electric fences around animals. 16:58:44 "These bears that we've been seeing lately don't have any collars, so the bears that we've been seeing haven't been relocated. Q: And what's that tell you? A: That tells us that the population is growing in our neck of the woods." Again officials say they number one way to keep bears awayis to avoid giving them a food source. The state has more info online at mass.gov/bears. In Spencer, Adam Bagni, WCVB NewsCenter 5. One person is dead after a small plane crashed in Katy, Texas this

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