Armonk family spots bear feasting on garbage

An Armonk family got an unexpected visitor for dinner Sunday night, when a black bear helped itself to some food scraps from the trash.
Marilyn Toohy says she looked out the window of her Maryland Avenue home around 7 p.m. Sunday and saw a black bear helping itself to food in the garbage can. The bear even climbed into a tree with the garbage bag.
Toohy says it wandered off after about a half-hour.
“It’s scary because I know he’s around,” she says. She adds that her kids won’t be playing in the yard any time soon. “I’m even afraid to clean the garbage.”
Residents who keep their garbage cans in the open could have return visitors, which happened later that night when the bear came back for leftovers. Experts say to store garbage cans in the garage or a shed to keep bears away. It also helps to add ammonia to the trash.
It’s not the first bear sighting this month. There were two in Yorktown in May.
Though it’s scary, Toohy says there is a silver lining.
“Someone likes my cooking,” she says.