Soon spotting a black bear in your RI yard may not be unusual. What to do if you see one.

Josh Dominikoski had an unexpected visitor to his home in Coventry one night last week.

"I was very, very surprised when I opened the camera app and saw there was a bear on our front porch," Dominikoski said.

Dominikoski got to the front door just in time to see the bear scurrying away.

"I've never seen a bear outside a zoo, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Dominikoski said.

Black bears have awakened from their winter slumbers and are occasionally making their presence known in Rhode Island as the hungry animals search for food. Residents have also spotted black bears in Charlestown on April 12, and near the Scituate-Foster line on April 21, according to Evan LaCross, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. On Tuesday, the DEM recovered the body of a bear that had apparently been struck by a truck on Interstate 95 in West Greenwich.

Bears likely to move to RI from Connecticut, Massachusetts

Bear sightings here have increased over the last several years, and sometime in the near future, spotting a bear in Rhode Island could become more than a once-in-a-lifetime event.

"I do believe, over the next decade or so, we will continue to see more bears," said Morgan Lucot, furbearer specialist for the DEM.

Rhode Island is believed to have only "a handful" of resident black bears, all males, but the population here will likely increase as the much higher bear populations in neighboring Connecticut and Massachusetts continue to grow and young bears leave "for a territory to call their own," LaCross said.

Rhode Island has some good habitat for black bears, especially in the western and northwestern parts of the state, and it's a good sign they're coming back, Lucot said.

"It takes a little bit of work to co-exist with bears, but I think it's worth it," she said. "They're beautiful animals."

Consider the situation in Massachusetts. In the mid-1970s, the black bear population in the Bay State was estimated at less than 100, but now the state is home to an estimated 4,500 black bears, according to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Black bear population was decimated by habitat loss, hunting, vengeance

The black bear population was initially reestablished in the western part of Massachusetts and has expanded east. With the growth of the Massachusetts bear population, it's likely that others have and will move south, across the Rhode Island border, in search of their own space, the DEM says.

Black bears were common in Southern New England when the first European settlers arrived but they were brought to "the brink of extinction" due to habitat loss as forests were turned into farmland, unregulated hunting and persecution by farmers who saw the bears as a threat to crops and livestock.

The bears spotted near homes recently in the Ocean State are hungry and looking for food following a winter of hibernating, according to Lucot.

"They often cover long distances looking for food," she said.

They might be young bears spending their first spring on their own, away from mom. Cubs are born in the winter and spend their first two winters with their mothers before heading out on their own in their second spring, according to Lucot. She likens those young bears to human teenagers, sometimes making "foolish" decisions as they try to find their way in the world.

If they are out on their own for the first time, it's likely they're also exploring Rhode Island for the first time. The DEM has seen no evidence that a female bear has taken up residence here and raised cubs, according to Lucot.

Bears are more likely to search for food near houses in the spring because their wooded habitat hasn't started supplying them with food such as berries, Lucot said. In Coventry last week, Dominikoski believes the bear that showed up on his porch was also responsible for knocking down his neighbor's bird feeder.

According to LaCross, the "DEM stresses that merely seeing a black bear does not mean the bear is a problem or that it poses a threat to public safety. However, bear interactions with humans, pets, livestock, agricultural products, and other property can become problematic."

Tips for sharing Rhode Island with bears

DEM provides the following tips for "co-existing" with black bears:

• Black bears are naturally shy animals but can't resist free food. Avoid drawing these large mammals into yards by removing bird feeders from April 1 to November 1, when bears are active and secure other potential food sources. Secure trash in containers and only put them out on the curb the morning of trash collection.

• To help keep bears wild and fearful of humans, it's important for the public to not approach them. If there are no food attractants in the area, bears will wander away on their own. If you spot a bear in your neighborhood, keep yourself and pets inside until the bear has left.

The public can report bear sightings to the DEM's Division of Law Enforcement at (401) 222-3070. LaCross said the DEM’s goal is to educate the public about bear behavior and reduce the potential for conflict between bears and humans.

Further information on "how to live with bears responsibly" is available at bearwise.org and the DEM's community resource for Living Alongside Black Bears.

Last Thursday night, the bear's visit caused a stir at the Stuart Drive home Dominikoski shares with his partner, Louie Alfaia, and Louie's mother, Maria Alfaia. Their Dalmation, Lucy, was "quite excited," Dominikoski said, apparently wondering, "What's going on? It's supposed to be my bed time."

Who knows if the bear will return, but Dominikoski would like to avoid any face-to-face meetings between the curious visitor and Lucy.

"We'll definitely be careful with her," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI's black bear population is growing. What to do if you see one.