Stunning Backyard Bear Sightings Have Special Meaning to Connecticut Family

Becky Walls recently spotted a mother bear with her cub in the yard of her family's Connecticut home in July

Photo: Becky Walls

Becky Walls' family home in Connecticut is "set back far into the woods," she tells PEOPLE, so it is common to catch glimpses of deer, squirrels, and even wild turkeys on the property. But during a July visit home to see her father, Walls, who now lives in Massachusetts, saw her first bear in the backyard.

The encounter started with a big thud that Walls and her father heard from inside the house.

"When we got up to inspect where the noise had come from, looking out on our back deck through the back door glass window, we saw a black bear who had taken down our hummingbird feeder with her paw," Walls says of the backyard bear sighting, adding that she and her father watched on from inside as the bear toyed with the feeder for 20 minutes to get to the sugar water it held.

Becky Walls

"And then halfway through us spotting the bear, a baby cub came up and started to partake in the sugar water with his mom," Walls recalls.

Walls, a self-described animal lover, says she watched the bear and her cub share the sugar water in a "combination of shock, awe, and disbelief."

"To see something like that so up close, and the intricate details of the fur, and the length of the claws, and the paws — it was just very neat. I am very grateful that I was inside the house," she adds.

Becky Walls

While this bear encounter would be impressive to many, it has a special meaning to Walls and her family. After the bears left the yard of Walls' family home, she and her father contacted her brother to share details about the event. He reminded the pair of when he had his own bear sighting, spotting a single bear in the same yard in October 2017, shortly after Walls and her brother lost their mother to cancer.

Sadly, Walls's maternal grandmother passed away at 100 shortly before Walls spotted the mother bear and her cub together. After talking about the animal encounter with her family, Walls says she and her relatives feel there is a heartwarming connection between the bears and their family's late loved ones.

"I knew it was definitely too rare of a coincidence, especially since there were no other bear sightings in between those two times," Walls says of the family's two bear encounters.

Becky Walls

"I truly feel that this was my grandmother saying that she is with my mother now and that they're together. Maybe giving us some sort of message that they're together and they are fine. And to give us a bit of closure or peace of mind," she adds of her thoughts of the mom and baby bear pair.

Walls hopes her bear encounter brings joy to others and reminds them that there are many amazing connections to be found in this world.