Black Bear Spotted In Indiana Last Year Out Of Winter Hibernation
(CBS) -- The black bear is back.
Authorities believe the same black bear that was seen around Michigan City last summer and fall spent the winter in southwest Michigan--a first since the 1800s.
In the past week, there have been almost daily sightings, as the DNR attempts to capture and re-locate the animal.
Mike Kinney and his wife live on the north end of Grand Mere State Park, along Lake Michigan near Stevensville.
They have had several visits from the bear, most recently late last week.
"At four in the morning, my wife woke up and saw the bear standing upright, going after the suet feeder," Kinney said. "It was just extremely large and extremely scary. She screamed. That woke me up. She says I screamed, too. I don't remember that."
Kinney has taken several pictures of the bear on past visits, including one where he was right up on the window, licking the glass.
He says the bear is huge. Maybe 400 pounds.
And he says it has absolutely no fear of humans.
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He says its both fascinating and scary, adding he is concerned it could do some unintentional damage.
Attempts to scare it off with bright lights and yelling, he says, are pretty much ignored by the animal.
Several of his neighbors have also reported seeing the bear and some have said it has damaged bird feeders and has rifled through garbage.
