Cumming man has close encounter with 3 bears

CUMMING, Ga. — A Cumming man had a close encounter with three black bears this week.

Jeff Adler told Ch. 2's Diana Davis that at first, he thought he was hallucinating.

“You think, ‘it’s not a dog. Am I really seeing what I’m seeing? Is this T.V.? Is this a zoo?’ Then you go, ‘holy cow, that's three bears right there!’” Adler said.

Adler told Davis he’s seen coyotes and foxes in his Cumming subdivision. But the three bears he spotted this week were something new. He was able to snap several picture with his cellphone from the safety of his car, but admitted he couldn’t help wondering what might happen next.

“Yeah, that kind of creeped into your mind, ‘am I safe?’” he said.

Adler said the bears crossed in front of him as he was driving down Buckingham Circle in the Polo Fields subdivision.

“I give the little baby bears cat calls like, ‘come here, come here. Stay, don’t start climbing over the fence,’”

But that’s just what the bears did.  The fence is in Liliana Boyd's backyard.  She wasn’t at home at the time and admitted she was shocked when she saw Adler’s photos.

“I was scared, you know way too close to have them roaming around,” Boyd said.

Boyd said the intersection the bears crossed in front of is a school bus stop. She admitted she feels uneasy if bears remain in the neighborhood.

“Children from the cul-de-sac walk all the way through here in the morning.” Boyd said.

As more of the bears’ natural habitat is built on, the Department of Natural Resources said more people may notice bears. They suggested keeping garbage cans secure.

If you do see a bear, don’t feed it.  Don’t approach bears and never corner a bear. Also, don’t run from bears, just back away slowly .

Adler said the bears he saw were not aggressive.

“They're going to do their own thing, they don’t want to be messed with,” Adler said.

So was it a mama bear and her cubs? Adler told Davis he doesn’t think so.

“It showed some papa male parts climbing over the fence.” Adler said.

WSBTV