Black bear caught red-handed strolling through Brockville backyard

Bear visits Brockville yard CTV’s Nate Vandermeer reports on the early morning visit to a Brockville home.

OTTAWA — Pierre and Sandra Legare could bear-ly believe their eyes when they walked downtown stairs Friday morning.

The Brockville couple looked out their kitchen window to see a large bear strolling along their pool.

“Oh, I was freaked! I didn’t expect it. When my husband came down and says ‘look outside in the pool!’ I thought it’d be ducks or something because we always get ducks, but it was a big black bear. And it was big, taking a little sip out our fountain over there. We didn’t expect it.” said Sandra

“I never expected to see that in my life.” added Pierre.

“He was back here checking things out for maybe two or three minutes and then he sauntered off. We get the occasional squirrel, fluffy rabbits, but certainly no bears,” said Pierre in an interview with CTV News Ottawa.

“It just wandered all over the place. It came up here to my door and then kind of walked around again and that was it. It was weird,” said Sandra

One faint footprint on the ground, and some scratched wood on the top of the fence, the only clue of the furry visitor.

The Legare's backyard is fenced in with locked gates on both sides.

“It’s all fenced the entire way around. I was puzzled about how he got in but apparently bears are very good climbers because I saw him climb over the rear fence and he didn’t have any difficulty whatsoever,” Pierre said.

Pierre says he’s lived at his Brockville home for 20 years and has never seen a bear in the city, let alone in his back yard.

The couple called 911 to inform Brockville Police, who then notified Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources.

“We got a couple reports this morning, people saw it in the backyards. They just reported it and left it alone which we're asking everybody to do,” says Brockville Police Chief Scott Fraser.

“Our officers went up into the north-end to try and locate it....our purpose is to locate it and move it along. He or she is kind of making the trek, we don’t like to see and it’s right in their yards and people aren’t used to seeing it,” Fraser said.

The ministry has a list of do’s and don’ts posted online in case you come face to face with a black bear. You should get inside a vehicle or building and never make direct eye contact with the animal.

The bear might have been eating from bird feeders or garbage, although Friday was not garbage pickup day in the north-end of Brockville.

A black bear attack is also extremely rare.

The last sighting of the bear was around Dana Street and Windsor Drive in the north-end Friday morning. It’s believed the bear wandered into the woods of the Mac Johnson wildlife area, where the hiking trails are still closed.

In an email Friday afternoon, Brockville Police said the black bear had been spotted again in the city..

For the Legare's, they still can’t believe what they saw and are glad the bear did no damage.

“I’m glad he didn’t go into my pool! I do need a new liner but not that way,” joked Sandra.

Chief Fraser said Brockville is considered a tourist destination, even for animals.

“Who doesn’t like Brockville? Even the bears want to come see it.”

Click here for some more tips on what do to if you encounter a black bear.