BEAR WEARING OUT WELCOME IN EASTERN TOWN.

Byline: Brian MacQuarrie The Boston Globe

A black bear with an insatiable sweet tooth is on the loose here, turning this town into a central Massachusetts version of Jellystone Park, as he rips down bird feeders, holds up traffic, and boldly roams porches and yards in search of sustenance.

At 6 feet tall and about 200 pounds, the 2-year-old male bear is big enough to frighten children and many adults. But dozens of residents have turned into camera-toting paparazzi, driving to bear sighting after bear sighting following each new report.

``He's adorable, he's gorgeous, but now I wish he'd go away,'' said Dale Erskine, whose Winnebago camper was dented by boxes of honeycombs that the bear threw about her garage May 12.

Since the initial sighting May 12, animal control officer Kathy Comeau has spent most of her waking hours watching the bear, keeping the curious more than a paw's-length away and trying to protect the animal from running into traffic.

On Tuesday, Comeau and Lunenburg police brought heavily traveled Route 13 to a standstill as the bear charged toward the highway like a zigzagging running back, unstuck his hind parts from a pesky guardrail, and then lumbered across the street to the honks and applause of motorists.

Under law, police said, they cannot shoot the bear unless he threatens someone. They also can't tranquilize him and return him to the wild, where more and more animals are having trouble coexisting with encroaching development. As a result, deer, moose and coyotes wander into towns more and more often.

Wednesday, the bear was spotted sleeping in a tree off Hollis Road, where he dozed until about 7:30 a.m. before striking off into the woods.

Police Sgt. Richard Lambert said this is a black bear's longest layover in Lunenburg in his 24 years on the force. By now, he said, nearly everyone in town with a hankering to see the bear has seen him.

Comeau said she believes the bear, which she calls Ben, has been tossed out of his den by a mother who was tired of caring for him. Now, as he learns to fend for himself, the rubbish and food scraps lying about the town's Whalom neighborhood have become staples of his diet.

The bear, nicknamed Yogi by police, has done the bulk of his public dining in Charlotte Miles' back yard. Miles has seen the bear four times, once for an hour, and her broken bird feeders are evidence of an otherwise gentle animal who nonetheless goes after what he wants.

Miles' most startling encounter occurred at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, when she drew back the curtain on a sliding-glass door to see a standing black bear, paws in the air, staring at her from only 1 foot away.

``He's a good-looking bear, almost like a circus performer,'' Miles said. ``But what if he comes back and walks through that door?''

Another time, the bear clambered up to Miles' porch and, in a stunning display of problem-solving, used his teeth and left paw to reel in a clothesline holding bags of suet and fruit. As the bear worked the line, a cheering crowd of 100 and a good portion of the Lunenburg police force watched from nearby West Street.

Although state wildlife officials have said they expect the bear to leave town in two weeks, when berries and other natural food can be found again in the woods, Comeau and police are worried that he may become dependent on the scraps left by humans.

If that happens and the bear stays on, Lambert said, state workers will be asked to remove the animal. Until then, Comeau, Miles and Erskine are deriving a wary pleasure from having a bit of the wild in their own back yards.

``We'll have World War III here, a revolution, if someone does something to that bear,'' Comeau said. ``People around here are animal lovers.''

Still, some animal lovers, specifically Dale and Gerry Erskine, are canceling the woodland walks that they enjoy so much. Gerry decided on that approach Wednesday, after he tried to engage the animal in conversation.

``The bear's in the yard, and Gerry walks out to it, saying `Hi bear, Hi bear,' '' Dale said. ``But the bear's going, `Rrrrrr, rrrrrr,' and Gerry decides it'd be better to come back in the house.''

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Photo: A 2-year-old black bear searches for food in the bac k yards of homes in Lunenburg, Mass. Local police have nicknamed him Yogi.

The New York Times