Caught On Camera: Bears Brawl In NJ Backyard
ROCKAWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Two bears throwing punches were caught on camera in a New Jersey town.
Rockaway residents told CBS2's Nina Kapur their town is no stranger to bears, but this was a first.
It was a full-on backyard brawl Thursday evening as two bears went at it near a house on Richard Mine Road.
Joseph Sedita was across the street when it happened.
"I've never seen anything like that before," he said.
He captured video of the tussle from the safety of his car.
"I only recorded for like a minute, but they were going at it for seven or eight, probably," he said. "They were making a lot of growling noises at each other."
Their growls were also captured by neighbor Karen Buccelli, who watched the animals duke it out from her second-floor deck.
"At first, I thought they were just fooling around, but they were really fighting, growling, making noises, crashing into the bushes," she said. "I thought they were going to knock into my neighbor's pool and damage it, so that's when I started yelling at them to stop."
Surprisingly, the bears actually listened.
Buccelli says her neighbors were home at the time, but when CBS2 stopped by Friday, no one answered.
Richard Mine Road is very wooded, but it's also very busy and home to a lot of families, so it may surprise some that bear sightings are not uncommon.
"Especially once the weather hits and they're out of hibernation," neighbor Katelin Myers said. "Once it gets warm, they're all over."
Myers lives right across the street. While she missed this bear fight, Myers says she's seen her fair share of furry visitors.
"I've seen them walking through my yard. I've seen them strolling up and down the street, I've seen them getting into garbage, but I have never seen a bear fight like that," she said.
Whether it was a battle over territory or scraps from the trash can, we'll never know, but the video is unforgettable.
Many of the residents didn't seem scared or concerned at the presence of bears on their street, saying they just keep a close eye on their yards when their dogs are outside.
