Black bear stops by for a drink at Germantown home

State wildlife official says local sightings typically occur in June and July

June 19, 2026 4:46 p.m.

Jason Enos and his wife, Sarah Hedlund, were sitting in the living room of their Germantown house on a Wednesday night in May when they looked out to see a black bear drinking from a birdbath on their backyard deck.

“We were both in the living room,” Enos told Bethesda Today, “Just out of the blue, she said, ‘There’s a bear on the deck.’ ”

Enos said he immediately went for his camera, and when he returned to look through the glass of his back door overlooking the deck, he saw the furry creature.

“Sure enough, there’s a black bear sitting on the deck at the top of the stairs,” Enos said. “And so I just rolled off as many frames as I could get of him.”

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Enos shared his photos in a p o st online of the bear, who he affectionately named Yogi.

He said it’s not uncommon to see wildlife in his backyard, given his house is adjacent to Black Hill Regional Park, but seeing a bear last month wasn’t on his bingo card.

Black bear sightings typically happen during June and July, as young bears look for places to call home, according to Jonathan Trudeau, the game mammal section leader of the Wildlife and Heritage Service of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Trudeau told Bethesda Today bears have learned to navigate what are called “green corridors,” or suburban areas that have cover such as trees and shrubs, as well as access to water.

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“They look for those natural environments … because that’s where the cover is,” Trudeau said. “They don’t want to make themselves susceptible. So they’re going to stay in those green spaces that provide that shelter.”

Enos thinks Yogi may have been attracted to the backyard because of the birdfeeders, which he said he usually brings indoors … except for that fateful night.

“He probably caught a whiff of that,” Enos said. “He had to have had a good reason to come up — we’re quite a distance up from the ground in the backyard.”

As occurs annually, black bears have been spotted around the county this year. A NextDoor post in May included the photo of a bear spotted off Schaeffer Road near the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds. Another video posted online by a dogwalker showed a black bear using a crosswalk in a Germantown neighborhood.

Seeing a bear in your neighborhood is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, according to Trudeau.

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“It’s a very small percentage of our population that’s ever seen a bear in the wild in Maryland,” he said. “So first and foremost, enjoy that experience.”

That said, he added that it is important to be careful and keep a safe distance.

“If you see a bear in your backyard, … don’t run out there trying to chase it off,” Trudeau said. “Call the DNR.”

Trudeau also shared a resource, bearwise.org, that has information about black bears provided by state and federal bear biologists.

Enos said he emailed the state’s natural resources department the day after the bear sighting, and was told that department staff would likely try to put a tracking collar on the bear if it returns. So far, there have been no signs of a repeat visit.

However, Enos said he and his wife will always have a soft spot for Yogi.

“My wife occasionally still, every now and then, out of the blue, will say, ‘I miss the bear,’ ” Enos said. “But I hope he establishes himself in a place where he’s safe, and some of the people will get to see him from time to time.”

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine