An east Forsyth County home has snapped some pictures of an intruder trying to steal from his property.

“The first time he visited us was Dec. 2,” said Waymond Henry. “He tore down our bird feeders and left muddy footprints on the back deck and left a nice muddy footprint on the glass window trying to come into the basement.”

That intruder is a black bear that has torn down Henry’s birdfeeders a few times now at his home on Lake Lanier off Browns Bridge Road.

Henry said the bear did not return for a while, but came back last week when he finally put his birdfeeder out again.

“After about four weeks I said, ‘The bear must be gone,’ we hadn’t seen any more signs of him. So, I put my birdfeeder back up,” he said. “The first night I put it back up, he tore it down again.”

Henry was able to snap several pictures of the bear on a trail camera he put near the birdfeeder.

He said he and his neighbors have not physically seen the bear, but he had spoken with officials with the state Department of Natural Resources who said they typically only move bears if they are dangerous and recommended removing pet food and birdfeeders.

“We’ve lived here going on five years and this is the first time we’ve seen any kind of bear sighting,” Henry said. “Of course, we feed the deer regularly with our flowers, but this is the first time we’ve had a bear sighting.”

Henry said it is interesting to see the bear, but hoped it moved on from the area due to safety concerns.

“We don’t want the animals hurt,” he said. “He’s a bear and if it wasn’t for us having grandkids in the area and the possibility of someone walking up on him and him attacking them, I would say great. He’s a wild animal and we moved to this part of the state so we could see the deer and animals like that.”

The bear was spotted near undeveloped Army Corps of Engineers property, which Henry felt was probably more suited to the bear than residential areas.

“I’m sure he’s still around there,” Henry said, “but I’m going to wait another two or three months and try my birdfeeder again.”