With black bear sightings increasing over the years in Uxbridge, officials have a few reminders. They say bears are generally not a cause for concern since they are transient and avoid direct contact with people but to help minimize the chance of a bear encounter: take down your bird feeders, if you feed your dog outside, bring the dish in when they are done, and secure the lids of your garbage containers, especially if they contain food scraps. And they remind you that intentionally feeding a bear is illegal because once a bear loses its fear of human beings then they can get dangerous.