TOO CLOSE

Black Bear Euthanized After Mauling 10-Yr-Old Boy in His Grandparents’ Backyard

“When I looked up, I saw his leg in the bear’s mouth and the bear trying to drag him across the lawn,” the boy’s grandfather said.

A 250-pound male black bear was responsible for attacking a 10-year-old boy as he played in his grandparents’ backyard in Morris, Connecticut, on Sunday morning. The bear was tracked down nearby shortly after the attack and was fatally shot, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. James Butler told the Republican-American of Waterbury that his grandson was on a trampoline when he suddenly heard the boy yell “bear.” “When I looked up, I saw his leg in the bear’s mouth and the bear trying to drag him across the lawn,” he said. Butler, who uses a wheelchair, managed to roll over and throw a piece of metal at the bar. A neighbor also ran over with a pipe and scared the bear off. The boy was treated in a hospital for non-life-threatening puncture wounds. Connecticut authorities have warned residents that bears are adapting more to human residences, especially as their population grows in the region.