On Monday evening, Pat MacKey arrived home to his unsettled girlfriend who had just seen a bear on their property.

A short time later, they both saw the bear from their window in the area of Fourth Line and Halton-Erin Townline in Wellington County. MacKey took photos and a video of the bear, who was trying to get into a bird feeder.

"I was quite surprised, we’ve never had a bear sighting there before,” says homeowner Pat MacKey.

He says that, for all the bear's antics, he would have found it funny if it hadn't been in his own backyard.

His hasn't been the only sighting in Wellington County, police say.

Wellington County OPP say they have had three separate reports of bears in the area.

The morning before, police visited a property on First Line and Erin-Garafraxa Townline and found evidence of a bear on the property.

Then, at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, police got another call reporting a bear near Guelph Lake on Wellington Road 124.

A management biologist with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry says they have been notified, as well.

“They’re typically found in the forested areas but they’re coming down off the escarpment looking for food sources,” explains Darren Ungar.

Residents are advised to keep food in storage areas away from bears and to wash garbage bins frequently.

Putting out garbage on the morning of collection, as opposed to the night before, can also help deter them, as well as putting bird feeders away until the winter, when bears are hibernating.

If you encounter a bear, you're told to stay calm, keep away from it and try to get inside. If a bear approacces you, police say you should back away, make noise and act aggressively towards it.

“If you do come across it you want to make sure you’re making lots of noise to scare it away if it does see you,” Ungar says.

Police say that fighting back is the best chance of stopping a bear attack. They say not to play dead unless you're sure that it's a mother protecting her cubs.

Find out more about what to do in emergency and non-emergency situations at https://www.ontario.ca/page/prevent-bear-encounters-bear-wise