A Marvin Ridge Road man is crediting his 7-year-old rescued pit bull with scaring off an estimated 250-pound black bear that had made its way onto a screened-in porch out back of the house Saturday night.
This black bear was spotted on the night of April 4, 2015 out back of 215 Marvin Ridge Road in New Canaan. Credit: Craig Hunt
Craig Hunt said he was watching the end of the Michigan State-Duke game (a disappointing one for Hunt, a Spartans fan with several relatives who have attended the East Lansing, Mich. school) when he heard a loud noise from beyond the kitchen.
“I was thinking a tree fell,” Hunt said hours after the incident.
Opening the kitchen door to a darkened screened-in porch where he’d been grilling earlier in the evening, Hunt sensed straightaway that something was amiss—and so did Buddy, a handsome pit bull he adopted about five years ago through Bully Breed Rescue of New Canaan.
Buddy Hunt of New Canaan. Contributed photo
“The lights were off and the dog growls and immediately I heard something like a scuffle and saw the bear go out with the dog chasing,” Hunt said.
Hunt went to pull his dog back inside after the bear was scared off and saw the bear get up on his launches. “He [Buddy] was well on his way to getting to the bear, to protect me.”
Standing upright, the animal loomed over Hunt, who is six-foot-two.
The bear apparently had been eating birdseed pulled down from a birdfeeder on a line and then went inside the house, following the smell of the grill.
This black bear was spotted on the night of April 4, 2015 out back of 215 Marvin Ridge Road in New Canaan. Credit: Craig Hunt
Hunt phoned police and could see the bear clearly—the animal climbed a tree to get at more birdseed and took its time doing so, before finally ambling off out back.
It’s the first time Hunt said he’s seen a bear in his neighborhood, though he’s had plenty of wildlife—coyotes, mostly, and a red fox more recently.
Meanwhile, Hunt is crediting his pal Buddy with helping him avert a potentially much more dangerous confrontation.
“He’s a terrific dog,” Hunt said of Buddy.
The pit bull had been taken in by Bully Breed Rescue from the Bronx, where he had been left in an apartment for two weeks with no food. Buddy Hunt was 22 pounds when police found him (he’s 65 pounds now).