ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Residents took to social media posting pictures and videos of a black bear spotted in St. Clairsville in recent days.

Resident Angie Wiggins commented, “Leave it alone. Don’t feed it. He or she is just passing through! Black Bears are harmless unless provoked.”

Others asked where and when the sightings occurred and if they should let their pets outside.

Belmont County Sheriff’s Office Dangerous Wild Animal Response Team Commander Thomas DeVaul said the bear’s presence is no reason to panic.

“They’re not just going to attack your pets or attack people. Black bears, I describe as very large overgrown raccoons. They are herbivores and they are scavengers, so they’re not any threat to people or pets or livestock in general. But just like any animal, if it gets cornered, trapped, or put in extreme fear, you don’t know what it’s going to do,” DeVaul said. “If you see one, keep your distance. If you need to move him on, do simple things like banging on pots and pans, yelling, clapping your hands, but doing it in a safe manner so that he’s not cornered. And sometimes they’ll just run or walk off.

“I’m telling you, they are like big, fat, overgrown raccoons — that’s how they act. And it’s nothing like ‘Cocaine Bear’ or like how movies have depicted them here recently. No. No, they are no threat to you unless they get cornered or get scared. Or it’s a mother that’s got cubs. But that’s not what we’re dealing with here.”

He added that the bear that has been sighted in St. Clairsville was first spotted on Buckeye Run, then on Maplewood Drive and then North Street. It most recently was seen moving west toward Morristown.

DeVaul said the bear was not creating havoc or bothering anyone, and he does not anticipate it doing such.

He said it appears to be moving to the southern part of Belmont County, which is an area several bears tend to migrate to because it’s less populated.

“We’ve got a few bears in our county, but down in the southern part of the county because it’s very desolate. And they’re not seen very often, but the people have actually become very accustomed to them,” DeVaul said.

He then recalled a story from years ago when he received a call from the Moundsville Police Department informing him that there was a bear crossing the Moundsville bridge. He also remembered a man fishing on the Ohio River a few years ago who saw a black bear swimming across the river.

“Now that one was going back into West Virginia. Apparently he didn’t like Ohio,” he joked.