Bear spotted near park in Upper Providence Township

UPPER PROVIDENCE TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Residents in Upper Providence Township, Delaware County are on the lookout for a black bear.

One was spotted over the weekend near Ridley Creek State Park, but local police say they're more concerned with what curious residents might do if they see the bear than what the bear will do to them.

"I was kind of excited about it; I thought it was kind of cool," resident Dana Pound said.

Pound says she thinks it may be why her dog has been acting strangely lately.

Police say they've confirmed a bear sighting reported Friday night just north of Gradyville Road at Providence Road.

"Surprised, I would say, I don't believe that it's all that uncommon for a bear to be in this area, however it is close to their mating season and they can travel quite some distance, so most likely the bear is coming down here to mate," Upper Providence Township Police Chief David Montella said.

Chief Montella is hoping people are sharing news about sighting along with what not to do if they come across the bear.

"If they're feeding, if there are cubs around, it could become aggressive; it's well known and documented that bears are generally not very aggressive toward people. If left alone, most of the time, they're going to walk away. But we'd rather err on the side of caution and just tell you not to approach it," Montella said.

Pound says capture the moment, but use your common sense.

"Don't feed it. It's a bear. You wouldn't go up to any wild animal. Maybe [take] a faraway selfie," Proud said.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission says they believe the bear may be off on its own now and is just passing through as it looks for its own patch of land.

They've set down one trap so far.

But at this point the bear hasn't become a nuisance.

If the bear starts to damage property or go through residents' trash then they'll rethink their strategy.