Look Who's Back! Pasadena Has To Grin And Bear It

PASADENA (CBS) — The bears have returned to the burbs!

A black bear and her cubs were spotted in Pasadena Saturday.

Neighbors in the 1400 block of Edgecliff saw several bears -- a mother and two, possibly three cubs --  going in and out of pools and hot tubs.

Carter Evans, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to concerned neighbors.

Said Jan Barsten, "Normally, we see the bears maybe three times the entire season. And it's like we've already seen them a lot."

She is mostly concerned about the mother bear and how protective she is of her brood. "I saw two cubs. And then the mother saw me and just just snarled."

It's the same neighborhood where a mother bear and her two cubs were spotted lounging in a tree and dining on neighborhood trash in May.

No one can confirm if these bears are the same family seen earlier this year but Barsten knows it's best not to take chances. "Now that she's got these little cubs, I'm kinda afraid. I tell the kids be careful when you go out."

The Sheriff's Department echoes the warning to be careful. And they are offering up some common sense advice: if you see a bear, don't try to make friends.

They say to give the animal as much room as possible. Note, bears also like to eat from from fruit teas.

Foothill residents are more likely to see bears in summer and fall months, especially when there hasn't been lots of rain.

The Sheriff's Department says black bears were first introduced to the San Gabriel Mountains in 1933. Today's food-foraging bunch are all descendents from 11 bears deported from Yosemite National Park for being troublemakers.