Phil Devlin found this 1766 article cited in an 1896 edition of the Connecticut Quarterly Magazine. Given all of the bear sightings all over Connecticut recently (including THIS ONE in Haddam Neck), the article below seemed most timely!Bear in Hartford
(from the New London Gazette October 10, 1766, Number 152)
“There are the greatest number of bears come down among the town that ever was known. They destroy great quantities of Indian corn and make havoc among sheep and swine. Last Tuesday morning a large he bear was discovered in an enclosure opposite the Treasurer’s and being pursued, he took to the main street, which he kept till he got to the lane that turns eastward by the south meeting house, ( notwithstanding his being pelted from every side of the street, with stones, clubs, etc.) and was followed into the south meadow where he was shot. The number of people that were out of doors to see so uncommon an animal in the town made it dangerous to fire at him in the street. In the evening he was roasted whole, and a large company supped on him.”
