Black bear spotted in Ottawa’s Richmond neighbourhood

Residents in Ottawa’s Richmond neighbourhood had a unique visitor Monday. CTV’s Josh Marano reports.

Residents in Richmond had a unique visitor Monday morning.

A black bear was spotted in a tree at a home on Moore Street in the Ottawa suburb.

Homeowner Jenny Black said her daughter heard rustling in a tree around 1 a.m. When she went outside this morning with her dogs, she saw the bear in a tree.

“I see that the bird feeders are on the ground and I thought, ‘oh, that’s odd.’“ I start kind of scaling up the tree, looking up, and I realized that there’s a big black ball of fur in the tree,” she said.

“It was a bear and, cutest thing ever, but also terrifying.”

The Ottawa Police Service said officers responded to reports of a bear in the area this morning, but the call was cleared.

Animal control officials are on standby.

“It’s very calm, seems docile so, we’re just going to kind of wait it out and see what happens. Hopefully, it’ll come down,” Black said.

The family told CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday that the bear had come down out of the tree overnight, sniffed around the yard, took a drink from the pool, and then climbed over the fence and wandered away.

Over the Victoria Day long weekend, a bear was spotted wandering around the Bayshore area.

“In the interest of public safety and the safety of the bear, he was chemically immobilized by NCC, with the assistance of Ottawa Police Service, and safely released into suitable habitat approved by Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources,” Bylaw Services said on X.

The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources offers tips if you encounter a black bear.

If you see a bear, you should:

• Slowly back away while keeping the bear in sight and wait for it to leave.
• Throw objects, wave your arms and make noise with a whistle, air horn or yelling if the bear does not leave.
• Prepare to use bear spray.
• Get inside a building or vehicle, if you are nearby, as a precaution.
• Drop any food you may be carrying and slowly move away.
• Leave a bear alone if it is in a tree. Leave the area. The bear will come down when it feels safe.
• Play dead only if you encounter a mother bear with cubs.

The ministry recommends you should not:

• Run, climb a tree or swim.
• Kneel down.
• Make direct eye contact.
• Approach the bear to get a better look.
• Attempt to feed a bear.
• Let your dog off its leash.
• Play dead unless you are attacked by a mother bear defending her cubs.