With the weather starting to get warmer outside, it seems that black bears are coming out of hibernation early in New Jersey, freaking out residents and defenseless trash cans all over the state. And the bears have serious munchies for pizza, dude.
Police say they've received at least 30 calls a day for the past month from residents reporting bear sightings. And they're hungry bears at that: “People put pizza out and the bears would sit down and they would munch on the pizza, and they don’t have a lid on the garbage can. They’ll rip the garbage can apart to get to a pepperoni pie,” said Police Lt. Steve Seifried. Of course, it's not only pizza that bears love: even bird feeders and pet food left outside can get them salivating. And don't even joke around with pic-a-nic baskets.
Police are advising that people secure their trash, and try to remove any outdoor treats as to cut off their food supply and drive them back to the woods. Perhaps worst of all, for the cops, the bears are no longer afraid of police sirens: "When we first started sending patrol units over there, they would hit the police car siren and they would scurry off into the woods, but now they’re so used to the siren they just look at us and keep doing what they’re doing,” said Seifried. Because hey, it's not like a cop wants to have to get up close with one of these critters either.
