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“Outstanding service. They were extremely careful delivering the extra large container into our driveway.” -- A. L. GARNER
For a bear, that's a dinner bell. They're commonly thought to possess the keenest sense of smell in the animal kingdom, six times more efficient than a dog's. Eve can detect the scent of animal carcasses from 20 miles away, the distance from Evesham to Willingboro, or how far it seems I park from the beach when we visit Spring Lake.Remember, this massive mammal isn't a vacuum salesman from Topeka just passing through Burlington County. Grills will be sizzling for months, and meat scraps will be dumped in the trash. Eve will be back.As might her relatives.Since the 1980s, the black bear population in New Jersey has expanded its range both southward and eastward from the forested areas of the northwestern part of the state, according to the state Department of Environmental Protection.Reasons for sightings in Burlington County are not connected solely to the possibility of foods and smells. Another reason: mating season. June and July are the months they copulate. Although black bears are native to New Jersey, and have always lived in southern areas of the state, more and more females are slowly migrating to South Jersey during mating season, and the males follow, according to Kelcey Burgess, a black bear project leader and principal biologist for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.So, suppose you've finished grilling and eating. You collect the meat scraps and other partially eaten foods and carry them to the trash. Later that evening, as you're watching Barney Fife's comical miscues on "The Andy Griffith Show" for the millionth time, you hear a noise. You walk outside and nearly come nose to snout with Eve rummaging through the trash. What do you do?The experts advise you not to run, as bears can reach speeds of 35 mph. Instead, they recommend you speak low and slowly back away. If the bear begins gr... (Burlington County Times)