Bear Strolls Into Connecticut Neighborhood & Abruptly Interrupts Kids’ Basketball Game

There are heads-up plays on the basketball court, and then there's what these kids did when their driveway game was interrupted by the presence of a massive bear strutting onto the pavement. While the grown-ups were unfortunately situated facing the hoop, with their backs turned to what was approaching, the alert youngsters caught on to the stakes of the scary situation, and warned the ladies that a towering mammal was slowly but surely approaching. https://twitter.com/NBCConnecticut/status/1826641291243127277 Looks like everyone got away unscathed, but sheesh, if I were the kids, I might think about frequenting the local park if there is one to get my hoops work in. Typically, bears in neighborhoods are one of those one-off encounters with wildlife that are the result of either a zookeeper mishap or simply a bear who'd lost its way from its typical habitat. In the state of Connecticut, though, there are warnings about the rise in population of black bears and how they come to residential areas more than other regions of the country. Garbage, compost, birdfeeders, and grills are common culprits for attracting them. Adults can get up to speeds of 30 to 35 mph, so it's a good thing this bear seemed more interested in other things than the humans who happened to cross its divergent path. Connecticut insists that there are abundant habitats for bears, and therefore, their population should continue to increase. Any proliferation of housing developments isn't deemed to have any impact on the prevalence of black bears around neighborhoods in The Constitution State. Let's hope that's true and that dangerous run-ins like these, especially with children involved, don't happen with much more frequency. Once more, almost can't emphasize enough how impressive it was on the kids' part for acting quickly. I feel like I'd have skewed more toward the "freeze" response if I were in their shoes.