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Pumpkin, the bear who police threatened to euthanize, believed to be dead from bow and arrow
Pumpkin the bear, believed to be dead, caused quite the stir in Hanson after the animal killed goats and police threatened to euthanize it.
Authorities believe Pumpkin, the bear spotted around parts of the South Shore who loved to eat gourds and who police threatened to euthanize after the animal killed goats, is dead after it was shot with a bow and arrow in Hanson.
A hunter legally killed a bear who looked like the 300-pound male bear on Nov. 6, specifically during the state’s regulated bear hunting season, according to MassWildlife officials. The date the bear was hunted was just weeks away from when black bears in Massachusetts would typically go into hibernation.
The bear’s death likely marks an end to a stir in the community that escalated after a Hanson Police Department Facebook post, in which officials said they may have to euthanize Pumpkin.
Police said the bear became a threat to the community after it got past an electric fence and into a secured barn, where it killed goats.
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“The big concern I have with this bear is it entered a structure that had been secured, and it now has a taste for livestock,” Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch said in a previous email. “This was also the second time it attacked livestock at this particular home.”
Officials said it was likely the bear would return to the area of that barn now that it had a food source. Miksch also said some people in the community were feeding the bear — on purpose and by accident — and exacerbating the problem of Pumpkin showing up near residential properties.
Some residents responded critically to the police department, demanding alternatives to euthanizing Pumpkin. That included comments on Facebook posts and a petition to “prevent the unnecessary killing of Pumpkin the bear by Hanson Police.”
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“This is not just about one bear; this is about how we treat wildlife in general,” wrote resident Rachel Baird in the petition posted to Change.org. “Animals acting naturally within their shrinking habitats should not be met with extermination as a solution.”
In the department’s defense, Miksch said they were not actively hunting for the bear, and said they would only euthanize Pumpkin if they could safely do so and it caused more trouble.
“This isn’t like in the movie ‘Jaws’ where they hunt any shark they can find,” Miksch said.
In response to the criticisms, both the police department and MassWildlife put out multiple public service announcements, and even hosted a webinar on how to coexist with black bears.
Much of the information advised locals to remove bird feeders, secure trash, and feed pets indoors — essentially taking away any potential food source from the wandering bear.
Authorities said Pumpkin wasn’t the only bear located in the area, and that another bear was spotted in Hanson after the hunter took down a bear believed to be Pumpkin. Other nearby towns like Whitman have also reported bear sightings.
According to MassWildlife, the number of black bears has increased in the state since the 1970s, mainly established in the western part of the commonwealth. But these bears are expanding farther east, with about 4,500 black bears statewide.
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In fact, the reason bears are legally allowed to be hunted during three separate hunting seasons is because of the growing population.
“Regulated hunting helps control the growing bear population; approximately 200–300 bears are harvested by licensed hunters across Massachusetts each year,” a MassWildlife spokesperson said in an email.
It should be noted that black bears are rarely aggressive toward humans.
A MassWildlife spokesperson said there have been only five instances in the last 10 years in which “a black bear has made physical contact with a person in Massachusetts.” The people in those cases suffered from minor injuries.
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