HARTFORD, Conn.– Witnesses could hardly believe the surprise visitor who showed up at the Connecticut governor’s estate.
A black bear climbed the fence Saturday as human passersby did a double take.
“It was definitely like, ‘Is this real?’” Joanna M. Kornafel recalled Friday.
She and her family were driving in their car near the governor’s residence in Hartford when traffic slowed, and the reason soon became clear: the bear was crossing the street.
As Kornafel’s husband drove and she grabbed her phone to take photos, the animal walked up the driveway to the 19th-century estate and climbed the high metal fence. She photographed the bear standing on its hind legs on the fence, with its front paws on an adjacent pillar and its snout around a spherical light.
The family was struck by how quickly and skillfully the bear climbed up.
“We were all impressed by the bear. And excited,” Kornafel said, explaining that her four-year-old son had been talking about it all week.
According to Governor Ned Lamont’s office, no one was home at the time and the bear apparently simply walked away.
Bears have been spotted all over Connecticut in recent years. Nearly all of the state’s 169 cities and towns reported sightings last year.