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Post by ridge on Apr 22, 2015 21:19:57 GMT -5
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2015 Contact: Katie Keen, 989-385-0336 Spring weather has bears, other wildlife on the move Spring is here, which brings warmer temperatures, longer days and wildlife emerging from their winter homes. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources reminds residents that black bears are among those animals that are now awake and have left their dens. At this time of the year, wildlife officials receive many calls about bear sightings and bears damaging bird feeders, trash cans and grills. thumbnail photo of DNR Bear Essentials video"Bears are hungry," said DNR bear specialist Kevin Swanson. "They are looking for food after spending months in their dens. While we might not think of bird feeders and trash cans as food sources, a hungry bear certainly may." Bird seed especially is attractive to bears because of its high fat content and easy accessibility. Once bird feeders are discovered, bears will keep coming back until the seed is gone or the feeders have been removed. "The majority of complaints we receive about bears in the spring involve a food source. The easiest thing people can do to avoid problems is to take in their bird feeders and store other attractants like trash cans inside until garbage pickup," Swanson said. "Once the woods green up, bears tend to move on to find more natural sources of food, as long as they haven't become habituated to the bird seed or garbage cans." Bears that are rewarded with food each time they visit a yard will remember these food sources. This can create an unsafe situation for the bear and become a nuisance for landowners if a bear continuously visits their yards during the day and repeatedly destroys private property in search of food. “We ask landowners to do their part by eliminating the food sources in their yards,” said Swanson. “Given time and no food reward, a bear will move along on its own.” Anyone who is experiencing problems with bears and has removed food sources for a period of two to three weeks, but has not seen results, should contact the nearest DNR office and speak with a wildlife biologist or technician for further assistance. Learn more about Michigan’s black bear and how to prevent potential problems by visiting www.michigan.gov/bear |
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Post by yesdeer on Apr 22, 2015 23:25:08 GMT -5
Better keep an eye on your dog! She would make a tasty snack...
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Post by QDM MARS on Apr 22, 2015 23:30:15 GMT -5
Several recent pics posted on Mike Avery's face book page of bears in peoples yards  |
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Post by ridge on Apr 23, 2015 2:10:09 GMT -5
Posted by Kyle Kaminski | kylekaminski@ogemawherald.com 989-387-8929 ogemawherald.com/…/Black-bear-struck-killed-on-I-75-…This may have been the bear that my wife came within 6-8 feet of hitting last year. It is very close to the same area just north of our home. The bear is the same size as the one that nearly became our hood ornament. And why is the DNR reducing the number of bear permits this year? [Two pictures are found in the post below this one.]Posted 10/31/14 WEST BRANCH — A black bear was struck and killed on I-75 near mile marker 209 between Alger and West Branch Thursday morning. The driver of the vehicle, Stephanie Allen, managed to avoid serious injury, although her Ford Escape was damaged in the incident. Allen said she was on her way to Kirtland Community College where she is employed as a lab instructor in the surgical technician program when she saw the bear. "All in a sudden I saw a black shadow," she said. "I thought oh my god I'm about to hit a bear." According to Ogemaw County Sheriff Howie Hanft, who was called automatically from the security system in Allen's car, the bear was struck at 7:27 a.m.. Allen said that the system reported the accident as a car or deer. When she told the police it was a bear, they were in disbelief. "As soon as I could get ahold of my phone I called dispatch," she said. "When I told them what had happened, nobody believed me. It was actually pretty funny." Allen has sent the bear to be processed, and said fully dressed it weighed about 330 pounds. As an avid hunter, she will be making full use of its meat and furnishing a rug from its hide. “From snout to tail, it was roughly the width of my Ford Escape,” she said. “It was the height of my hood.” Allen said that the impact tossed the bear a significant distance, but left it fully intact. “There wasn’t even a drop of blood at the scene,” she said. |
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Post by ridge on Apr 23, 2015 2:29:54 GMT -5
  These pictures were taken by Ogemaw County Sheriff Howie Hanft. |
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Post by QDM MARS on Apr 23, 2015 19:21:32 GMT -5
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Post by yesdeer on Apr 26, 2015 9:29:15 GMT -5
Grand Traverse 911
April 24 at 11:45pm ·
****BEAR SIGHTING****
We are FUR SURE there is a bear in the area of East Duck Lake Rd and US 31 South. Hide your chickens, hide your garbage...they're getting into everything.
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This was on Facebook! I have not seen any up here but I am sure that they are around.
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