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NORTH ATTLEBORO - Barbara Gagne thought it was unusual when the family's three cats, who they typically have a hard time bringing in at night, ran right into the house about 6 p.m. Friday.

She believes their quick retreat was because the cats sensed a bear in the neighborhood, one that would visit the family's yard twice that night, each time taking out bird feeders - including a hummingbird feeder screwed into a tree - with one brush of its paw.

The Gagnes' was one of three sightings of the bear in the Paine and Norton Road area Friday.

The bear has been sighted in wooded areas of the town along Interstate 295, including an unconfirmed sighting in the same area Monday night.

Police have since advised residents to watch out for the bear and to keep an eye on young children and pets. Residents were notified through an automated telephone system message on Monday. There were three sightings reported to police on Friday, Police Capt. Daniel Coyle said.

The first sighting was at 7:30 a.m. on Paine Road by a man who said a bear crossed the street in front of his car while he was driving. A second call came from a man on Paine Road at 9 a.m. Then, at 10 p.m. Friday, the Gagnes called to report a bear at their bird feeders.

The bear was last seen walking into the woods near Pride Dodge, Coyle said.

Massachusetts Environmental Police reviewed a video taken of the bear, described as "pretty good-size," possibly larger than a bear spotted Thursday in Mansfield.

Gagne heard the first feeder go down about 9:30 p.m., the crash of the pole with four feeders jarring her from her TV program.

Gagne said that when she turned on an outdoor flood light, she couldn't believe what she saw.

The bear took a peanut feeder in the backyard, followed by one containing thistle. A sunflower chip-filled feeder followed. That feeder was later found in the woods, Gagne said.

In the case of another bird feeder, the bear actually had to smash little windows to get at the food.

Her husband Neal, an Attleboro fire captain, was ready with a video camera the second time around.

At one point, their son Ryan, 13, made a noise. "It looked over, but then just went on eating," Barbara Gagne said.

For 10-year-old daughter, Rene, it made for a great story to tell at school Monday.

"I was shocked and it was exciting," she said.

The Gagne's feeders were among those left in the path of destruction through the neighborhood created by the hungry bear, with bird feeders ripped up or smashed at several other homes.

It also set the area abuzz.

Bill Walker, out washing his RV on Fales Road Monday afternoon, said that his wife had just heard about the bear sightings, but neither were worried about the prospect of a bear encounter in that wooded neighborhood.

"Bears normally stick to themselves. Unless they are cornered, they should be fine," Walker said.

If anything, the bear sightings have incited curiosity, said another homeowner on Hoppin Hill Road.

Nicole, who didn't want to give her last name, said she had been alerted via land-line, cell phone, and e-mail. Friends had been calling her to see if she was OK and whether she'd seen the bear.

"Normally it's just a pass-through road," she said. "I've noticed people have been driving more slowly today, trying to see if they can see the bear."

"I think the turkeys in the neighborhood are more frightening" she said, laughing.

She did, however, make sure to bring her cats in the house.

Nicole's friend, Stephanie Lockwood, was standing in the yard holding a camera, "armed and ready for the bear."

Along with her daughter, they had been wandering through Nicole's yard, hoping to catch a glimpse of it.

Police advise people to stay away from any bear and to keep an eye on children and small pets.

In addition, bring in bird feeders and do not leave pet food, trash or any other food sources outdoors.

If a bear is sighted, police ask residents to call them at 508-695-1212 and they will notify the animal control officer and the environmental police.

The North Attleboro sightings occurred within a day of a black bear spotted in a populated section of Mansfield, near the Foxboro line. That bear was estimated to weigh between 80 and 100 pounds.

A state wildlife biologist said that sighting could be just the first in the area as the bear population continues to expand and move.

Jim Cardoza, a wildlife biologist with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, said bears have been traveling from Worcester County and New Hampshire toward the interior of the state, but the bear in Mansfield was the first sighting this far south.

He speculated that the bear seen in Mansfield could have been the same one recently seen in Dover and Medfield.

Young male bears can travel great distances looking for a new home after being shooed away from the den by their mothers, Cardoza said.

For Barbara Gagne, Friday's bear sighting in her back yard was enough excitement to last for a while.

The bear has not been seen since Friday night, and while it was exciting, she said "it is sort of nerve-wracking since we have animals and children."

Sun Chronicle intern Catherine Krug contributed to this report