He just ambled into the woods at the end of our street, oblivious to all the eyes following his every move

Our neighborhood chat group is the go-to source for those looking to borrow a particular food item, suggestions for a repairman, help finding rides to out-of-town hosts for Shabbos, or (my personal favorite) to share the brand-new mazel tovs in our families.

Yet the information posted takes a decisively 180-degree turn during the spring and summer months when we monitor the comings and goings of DovDov, our neighborhood bear.

Yes, you got that right.  Our neighborhood boasts a local bear, whose moniker is DovDov.

Every year DovDov comes out of hibernation and always finds his way to our neighborhood. We know spring has definitely come with the first DovDov sighting.

The first time I saw him was late on a Shabbos afternoon. Coming back from a visit with our kids, my husband and I observed a large gathering of neighbors in front of our house. When we got closer, we saw what the excitement was all about. There was DovDov — around 100 feet away — going through our neighbor’s trash cans and tossing them aside like they weighed nothing. After he finished, he just ambled into the woods at the end of our street, oblivious to all the eyes following his every move.