Anthrax? Mail bombs? What could be scary about getting the mail? Well, if you live in certain towns in NJ, a bear could be lying in wait.

While everyone in New Jersey is aware of the bear population, it isn’t often we are actually confronted with one.

Sure, you may see the occasional bear tracks in the woods when walking or feces that definitely isn’t coming from your my dog, but what about a true, telltale sign that a bear is nearby?

Just last week, a woman in Lafayette Township was going to check her mail and was suddenly attacked when several bears appeared. People started to look twice and three times before running out to the mailbox.

It isn’t necessarily clear how but the woman was attacked by one of the bears and was rushed to the hospital. The remaining bears were scared off by car horns, and hopefully will stay wherever it is that they came from.

As for the woman, she was released from the hospital within the same day and thankfully hasn’t suffered any serious injuries.

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People in New Jersey have a reason to be skittish about going to the mailbox.

Some people still have PTSD from the Unabomber, whose actions affected us here in NJ.

There are other people who still fear the post 9/11 Anthrax mail attacks. But would anyone think they’d be attacked by a bear on the way to get the mail?

The bear was reported to be between 150 and 200 pounds, and a trap has been set up by authorities in hopes of catching it and confirming it was the bear from the attack.

As a result of the attack, the DEP has once again urged New Jerseyans to never engage with a bear if they see one. There have been very few attacks coming from bears in the last several years, and it will stay that way if humans do not interact.

If you do see a bear, it’s important to stay calm and slowly walk away. If a bear begins to approach you, the more you wave your arms and move your body the better, as often they will notice you are human or not harmful and back away.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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