What do bears do in the suburbs? Scare residents.
Not John Brandon though, he grabbed his camera and shot Ursus on Thursday as it wandered into his back yard in Cobb County at Sandy Plains Road and Georgia Highway 92 outside Marietta.
When he got home, he said in an email to Channel 2 Action News, he also shot a picture of a solitary deer, which had replaced the bear and possibly posed a greater threat to any flower beds or ornamental shrubs.
There have been a number of black bear sightings in the north metro Atlanta since one was killed on a Cherokee County road in April. On Tuesday, a north Fulton County resident emailed about a neighbor watching a bear cross Hickory Flats Road in the Alpharetta-Milton area and head toward a dumpster.
At least 5,000 bears call Georgia home, typically living in swamps or forested areas, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. Generally, a bear is an unusual sight in metro Atlanta, at least until this year, although young ones are known to wander in from more mountainous terrain in search of territory.
Experts urge residents to cover up garbage and seal up dog food to avoid enticing bears to property.
Best advice: Snap a picture from afar and let the beast amble away.
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