Fall is here, and, as often happens, black bears are becoming very active in the Aldie area. A very large bear weighing several hundred pounds visited the village overnight and raided some trash cans in the process. As development continues to encroach into forested lands and habitats commonly used by wildlife as human populations are also growing and spreading across most of our area, bear encounters have become quite common. Please use caution on the roadways as well as unfortunately, every year, several bears are struck by vehicles on local roads.
Information about bear safety can be found via the following link from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources:
A very large bear raided trash cans in the village of Aldie overnight on 09-25-2023. This heavy-duty commercial trash can was cracked by the weight of the bear. The cans were adjacent to a home just a few feet from Route 50.
