Unexpected visitor: Black bear Sweetie visits Chesapeake neighborhood

Unexpected visitor: Black bear Sweetie visits Chesapeake neighborhood

CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) -- It was a night like any other for Jason Petrie and his family. Everyone was ready to call it a night until the family got an unexpected visitor. Meet Sweetie, a black bear whose recently been seen near Butts station and Elbow Road in Chesapeake. “We had been having a bear sighting in the neighborhood quite frequently recently. And before I went to bed, I started just checking my cameras around the house. And when I chec…

The tale of Muggins, the black bear in Clifton Gorge

By Don Cipollini Clifton Gorge is a narrow limestone gorge, formed 15,000 years ago by glacial meltwater, that extends for about a mile downstream from Clifton Mill -— both popular tourist attractions in Greene County. “The gorge” is a natural wonder, harboring plants like white cedars and eastern hemlocks far removed from their typical range that persist in the “refrigerated” microclimate that the gorge maintains. While the gorge has been a sta…