By Tom Davidson
HERMITAGE, SOUTH PYMATUNIÑG TOWNSHIP — Thar’s bear around here.
While it may sound surprising and maybe a little scary for city slickers, bear sightings aren’t uncommon in Mercer County over the last decade.
There were a couple sightings this spring and on Saturday there were two more in Hermitage.
The Rev. Milovan Katanic, pastor of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church in Hermitage, was crossing South Keel Ridge Road from his house to the church for a Saturday evening vesper service when he saw the beast, which had stopped traffic on the road and gained the attention of people going to church.
“I just happened to have a camera and thought I’d take a picture,” Rev. Katanic said.
He snapped a couple shots, then said the bear went into the woods nearby.
A second sighting was reported by a South Pymatuning Township woman who declined to give her name.
She was gardening when her dogs “went wild” after what she thought was the neighbor’s dog.
A man who stopped and recognized it was a bear warned her, and the dogs chased the bear into the woods near Clark.
“I was just really shaking because I’ve never seen a bear,” the woman said.
It’s not unusual, Larry Hergenroeder, a wildlife conservation officer for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said.
In spring and summer, bears wander around foraging for food and sometimes wander into town, he said.
Although “it’s not a real common occurrence for southern Mercer County,” it’s not unexpected, Hergenroeder said.
“We do have bears in the area,” he said. “They wander in, searching for food.”
It’s a reason people should secure their garbage and other edibles that might be outside. It you see a bear, don’t go near it, he said.
“You want to keep your distance, it’s a wild animal,” he said. “Call the game commission or the police department.”
They don’t present a danger unless they’re provoked.
“They’ll move in, then they’ll move out,” he said.
If a bear wanders into the city, game commissioners sedate it and relocate it to game lands, usually in Venango County.
