By Dan Murphy
On July 22, a hungry black bear was spotted at the Dunkin Donuts on Route 6 in Mohegan Lake, breaking into a poison rat trap. The video is on Facebook, posted by Paula Miritello, who runs a great non-profit (MyBrotherVinny-mybrothervinny.org).
Paula posted, “My Volunteers saw this Bear by 202 Lexington, Yorktown. Hope it’s ok after it ate the rat trap poison.
I shared to have everyone aware Bear in the area and sent to my Town Supervisor time stamped. This seems to have happened fast I don’t even think they were aware it was what it was until it was done. Either way, hindsight is 20/20. Maybe this will prevent other businesses for leaving them out. Say a prayer for the Bear and for humanity since we have failed daily.”
Yorktown Supervisor Ed Lachterman posted,” Once we were notified about the bear and the poison trap, I went over to the building where the fair was spotted. I went inside and spoke with the manager at the Dunkin’ Donuts to find out what poison they used and had them send me a copy of the MSDS sheet. This was sent to our police department who was already made aware of the bear sighting. We contacted DEC and sent them the sheet so they were aware of what the bear ingested. I believe he was spotted a few more times during the day over by Lake Mohegan. If it was the same bear, he was not showing any effects of the poison that he ate. Our local patrols were all updated and made aware of the situation.”
Other reports saw the bear on Route 6, so we believe that the Dunkin location on Route 6 in Mohegan Lake was where this video was taken. Other reports have the bear spotted “by the Pine Grove neighborhood near BJs since last week,” and “in Lakeside Colony and old Yorktown Village development today.”
Most of the posts were concerned about the bear’s health after eating the poison. Others explained that the size of the Bear will protect it from serious health issues after eating the rodent poison.
Watch the video at https://www.facebook.com/reel/4324721524456404