Linda Campbell watched in disbelief on Monday as a black bear helped itself to a meal from her bird feeder.

Campbell first spotted the bear roaming her property located just east of Barrie around 7:30 p.m. She says the bear got at the bird feeder like it was nothing.

“With absolutely no effort at all this bear reached up and pushed on the pole like he was swatting at a fly and immediately got dissembling the bird house here,” she says.

Stunned by what she was seeing, Campbell started banging on her window.

“I'm inside at this point banging on the windows and doing all the crazy noisy making things they tell you to do, absolutely to no affect,” she says.  “He was pulling on the handle trying to get this seed barrel over; he knew exactly how to tip it.”

For nearly two hours Campbell was locked inside her home and repeatedly banged on the window hoping it would scare the bear away.

“To have one that close to your home and right on your deck that's what frightened me the most,” she says. “The boldness of him and that the noise was not deterring him at all.”

With the bear exploring the property, Campbell called the OPP. Eventually an officer used his sirens to scare the bear away through a nearby bush. Campbell says she is use to wildlife because of the forest that backs onto her property, but never expected to see a bear.

A short time later, Barrie police received two bear sighting calls from residents near Shoreview Park. Officers attended to the scene, but were unable to locate the bear. It's unclear if this was the same bear.

In Coldwater, OPP received a call from the principal of Coldwater Public School after a bear sighting there on Tuesday. The students were kept inside for the day as a precaution. OPP say the bear has been feeding on birdseed and food found compost containers near area homes.

Around this time of year, experts say it's neither common nor rare for young males to move around and find different territory and get curious.

Michael Elgar is a bear technician with Ontario`s Ministry of Natural Resources and says since the spring, there have been 10 reported bear sightings, mostly in rural areas of Simcoe County. He says the bears have recently come out of hibernation and are looking for food.

“Often when it's in the city limits it's confused and wants to get out of there as much as we're surprised it’s there,” he says.

As for Campbell, she's now making sure her property is less desirable should the bear return.

“We're going to make it a little less comfortable and get rid of the food source,” she says.

The experts say Campbell did everything right in her case and it is possible there could be more bear sightings.

For that reason, residents are being urged to never approach a bear if you see one and to tightly seal all food and garbage around your property.