UPDATE: A second sighting occurred Tuesday evening along Route 76 heading toward Rosemont - at the intersection prior to Reep's Graphics. Berry said the bear crossed in front of their car and headed back into the woods when she got the photo below. As always DNR officials advise individuals to please stay away from any bear that is spotted.

 

ORIGINAL: City resident Brittany Everton is a self-admitted people watcher. But, she got to see a little more than expected when she looked out the back of her apartment situated above Enliven Chiropractic on Main Street early this afternoon.

 

“My boyfriend called me and I thought he was calling from just outside so I looked out the back window and just yelled to him ‘there’s a bear.’ I was hoping he would get here in time to see it, but by the time he got here the bear was gone,” said Everton.

 

The bear, however, wandered awfully close to Main Street after being in the area behind the old Bridgeport Baptist Church and Petroleum Development Building on Main Street. Everton then said it maneuvered all the way from Davis Street past First Street and then she believed into an area near Ford Funeral Home.

 

Once it got that close to the roadway, Everton said she called 911.

 

“I was afraid it was going to get hit by a car,” she said. “I wanted to make sure that it didn’t.”

 

Everton said it seemed like it last a while, but that it probably only last three minutes at the longest before it disappeared. She said she believes it to be a cub.

 

“It was pretty small. About the size of a large dog,” she said.

 

This isn’t the first siting of a bear in Bridgeport this year. In fact, a mother and four large cubs were spotted several times near Hinkle and Deegan Lakes this year. In past years, there have been multiple bears spotted in and around Bridgeport.

 

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources has repeatedly warned individuals to stay clear of the bears, particularly those that might be cubs. Typically, the bears are migrating to other places, DNR officials have said in the past.

 

As always, if you see a bear in a neighborhood, call 911.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows the bear cub near the Davis Street apartment complex roughly 50 yards from Main Street. Bottom photo is of the cub in the grassy area behind the Enliven Chiropractic building. Photos courtesy of Brittany Everton. Photo below courtesy of Monica Knight Berry.