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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- If you have seen a bear or two in your neighborhood recently, you are not alone.

There have been several bear sightings in and around Colorado Springs this summer.

One neighborhood in Monument has had at least five bear sightings since May, and officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said Teller County and the North Fork Valley near Aspen are seeing an increase in visits.

They said for the most part this is normal, as Colorado bears are preparing for hibernation.

What is different this year though are the dry conditions and lack of food sources in some areas.

"The mama bear was sitting there and the two babies were sitting in the tree," Wynn Soong, a resident in Monument, said. "One of the baby bears was playing in the pond, and the other one decided to join but got flicked in the face."

Soong said she has been bears in her neighborhood five times this summer, with the most recent encounter occurring on Aug. 26.

Wildlife experts said that is a lot, but not unusual.

"They are beginning to increase their feeding activity, up until the point in October when they will be eating up to 20 hours per day," Michael Serephin with Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.

Soong and her family are not alone, as their next door neighbor also caught a bear on camera recently hanging out in his tree.

"Around the Pikes Peak Region we are slightly above our normal, which tends to go up year in and year out," Seraphin said. "Part of that is because there are more people around."

Even though it has been dry this summer, Seraphin said the mild spring allowed the bear's food sources to mature sooner.

He added that has negated some of the effects of the drought, but not eliminated them.

"This year things are browning, which increases their foraging for other food sources, and bears being opportunistic will look for anything," Seraphin said.

Which is why he said it is important to keep your distance and let them be, even if that means allowing them to swim in your backyard pond.

"I posted them on Facebook, and all my friends were saying 'You are lucky you get to see bears,'" Soong said.

Of course Seraphin said if you ever feel threatened call Colorado Parks and Wildlife immediately.

For helpful bear safety tips click here.