CHELMSFORD — It’s not every day that a neighborhood wildlife sighting ends with a selfie, but that’s what happened when a Westlands resident spotted a black bear helping itself to a neighbor’s bird seed and decided to document the moment with the unexpected guest about 20 feet behind him.
Thomas Salowsky said for roughly 30 to 40 minutes, the bear lounged beneath a tree in the suburban neighborhood, raided bird seed and stretched for another bird feeder hanging just out of reach, seemingly unfazed by Salowsky’s interest.
He described the encounter as equal parts fascinating and surreal.
For wildlife officials, however, it also serves as a reminder of why backyard bird feeders can create serious problems when bears begin associating neighborhoods with easy meals.
Word of a bear in the area had already been spreading throughout the neighborhood, Salowsky said, with residents reporting bird feeders being ransacked.
As it turned out, Salowsky would soon witness the culprit firsthand.
He had been in the back corner of his yard working in his wood shop and cutting lumber shortly before noon when he started walking back toward his house.
“You know when something catches your eyes?” Salowsky said, reenacting where he was when he spotted the animal. “There’s this big bear sitting under this tree with its paw on the seed just mowing on it. Absolutely minding its own business.
“It was a sight to be seen,” he added.
Salowsky said he shut the garage door and the back door to his home before calling over his 3-year-old daughter to take a look through the safety of the house. While she had seen bears in captivity before, he said, she’d never seen one lounging just outside her window.
“That bear didn’t care about anything but eating that bird seed,” Salowsky said.
The bear appeared determined to extend its snack.
While it had already found at least one feeder on the neighbor’s property, another hung from a tree just beyond its reach. The bear repeatedly stretched upward and dug its claws into the wooden feeder but couldn’t pull it down.
Salowsky later pointed out the gouges the bear left behind on the feeder.
With the bear standing on its hind legs and reaching for the feeder, Salowsky seized the opportunity to snap a selfie. The photo was so unusual that his father-in-law initially questioned whether it had been generated by artificial intelligence.
“I was like, ‘No, this is actually happening right now,’” he said. “It was just sitting here hanging out, I couldn’t believe it.”
Eventually, after spending roughly 30 to 40 minutes feasting on bird seed and unsuccessfully trying to access the second feeder, the bear gave up and lumbered off down the street toward Golden Cove Brook.
He noted that the bear had tags in both ears, suggesting it may have been part of a state monitoring program.
Salowsky estimated the animal weighed between 200 and 300 pounds. According to MassWildlife, male black bears generally weigh between 130 and 600 pounds, while females typically range from 100 to 400 pounds.
Salowsky also suspects the family’s 9-year-old German shepherd, Socks, knew something unusual was around before the sighting. The dog had been darting around outside the home, intensely sniffing the area leading up to the encounter, behavior Salowsky now believes may have been connected to the bear’s presence.
His 5-year-old son, Tuckerman, even gave the visitor a nickname: Birdy the Black Bear, a fitting name considering his food choice.
According to MassWildlife, Massachusetts’ black bear population has expanded steadily since the 1970s, with more than 4,500 bears now estimated statewide. The agency says bears have increasingly spread eastward, with populations established in northern Middlesex County and communities along and east of Interstate 495.
Wildlife officials warn that bears that become accustomed to human food sources such as bird seed, trash and pet food can become dependent on those readily available meals and more likely to cause property damage or other conflicts.
MassWildlife advises residents to remove bird feeders at the first sign of bear activity. Bears attracted to backyard feeders often begin searching for additional food sources nearby, and repeated exposure to human-associated food can cause them to lose their natural fear of people. In some cases, officials said, that can create safety concerns significant enough that the bear must be euthanized.
For that reason, the agency said removing attractants remains one of the most effective ways homeowners can prevent future encounters while helping keep both people and bears safe.
Follow Aaron Curtis on X @aselahcurtis, or on Bluesky @aaronscurtis.bsky.social.
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