By RUSS OLIVO

BURRILLVILLE — Those tubes of nuts and seeds hanging in the back yard are supposed to be for the birds, but folks here and in nearby Uxbridge have spotted another species foraging at feeders lately: black bears.

Animal Control Officer Ron Woods said a woman who lives on Clear River Drive, off Route 102 near the Glocester line, spotted a 200-pound black bear pilfering a snack from her outdoor bird feeder about 4 a.m. last Saturday.
“He had her bird feeder cracked open, and he was munching out,” said Woods.
About two hours later, Patrolman Henry Yakey saw what was probably the same black bear foraging on the side of Route 102, near Algonquin Lane, according to Police Dispatcher Glen Biddiscomb.
Meanwhile, police in nearby Uxbridge said they received reports of several sightings of a black bear last Friday and Saturday, but Burrillville police doubt it was the same bear. The Uxbridge bear was first seen in the northern part of town, near the Northbridge line, while later reports pegged the furry four-legger heading south.
To pad it to Burrillville in time for folks near the Glocester line to catch a glimpse of the animal, “He would have had to do some pretty clever maneuvering,” reasons Biddiscomb.
But one common denominator in the two-town bear sightings was their choice of forage: birdseed. Uxbridge police said their bear wasn’t behaving aggressively, but they nevertheless discouraged residents from leaving backyard feeders outdoors this time of year.
“Residents are encouraged to take down any bird feeders in and around their yards as a deterrent,” Uxbridge police spokeswoman Melanie Blodget-O’Toole said in a press release. “Bird feeders are generally encouraged to be taken down after April 1st and not placed back out until December 1st.”
Black bears are seldom seen in this area, though they occasionally wander into town from neighboring Massachusetts and Connecticut looking for food around this time of year, according to Woods. A black bear was spotted in the Black Hut Management Area last fall, but the most recent sighting before that was about two years ago, on Smith Road in the Harrisville section of town. Woods himself was one of several people who saw the latter bear.
Black bears are native to Massachusetts, though their numbers in the southeastern part of the state are comparatively few, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. Steadily rising since the 1960s, the population of black bears is thought to be well over 2,000 animals, concentrated mostly between the Connecticut River and the eastern border of Worcester County.
Although they’re technically thought of as carnivores, or meat-eaters, black bears will actually eat just about anything, from nuts and seeds to berries, herbs and household trash. They’re excellent climbers and swimmers, can live 30 years or more, and grow to more than three feet at the shoulder and some 600 pounds.
They’re not generally thought of as threat to humans, although ACO Woods doesn’t recommend getting between a female with cubs in tow. As a safety precaution, he recommends securing backyard trash and, if you don’t take down those bird feeders for the summer, at least hang ‘em high.