BEAR RUN-INS INCREASE
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 -- 1:50 PM
Folks in the area, including some right in the city of Neillsville, have been seeing their share of black bears this year.There have been several sightings on the west side of Neillsville.
"A couple things are happening," explains Michelle Windsor of the Wisconsin DNR, "The berries aren't quite out yet, so they're looking for food. The bigger thing is the adults are getting ready to breed, so they're kicking away the juveniles so they're available to be breed."
Bear sightings are up in recent years as populations thrive and humans move into their territories.
"As the habitat starts to fill up up north, you start to see more and more animals move south," Windsor explains, "Around the Neillsville area, with all the county forest, it's really a great place for them to be."
The good news: bears haven't posed too much of a threat to humans. However, they can wreck a bird feeder awfully fast. Windsor says if you are having bear troubles, you should move all available food sources inside for at least two weeks.
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