A black bear wanders into the back yard – in the middle of a residential neighborhood well inside the city limits. What does an alarmed homeowner do? The question is hardly an exercise of “what if” in Rice Lake, according to police reports.
During a 12-day period at the beginning of June, the Barron County Sheriff’s Department logs recorded about five calls regarding bear sightings in Rice Lake city limits. One was reported at a location practically within spitting distance of downtown.
On June 2 at around 11 a.m. the Rice Lake Police Department received a call about three bears crossing the road on Allen Street. Three days later two complaints came in within 15 minutes of each other in the early evening. One caller spotted some bears on North Main Street and the next caller on Humbird Street said she saw a bear running through her neighbor’s yard.
Similarly, two calls came in back-to-back at 9:42 a.m. and 9:54 a.m. on June 14. One caller on West Gates Street said she saw a small cub run across the road, and the next said he had bears in his West Bracklin Street yard. He was concerned because he lived near a day care center.
In some cases, the callers were advised to let the bear be and let it lumber off, and sometimes officers drove through the areas but didn’t locate any ursine interlopers.
Even if they had, the officers probably would have followed standard procedures: Leave it alone or turn on the squad’s sirens and lights to chase it toward the woods.
“We try not to do anything when responding to a bear sighting,” Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said. “Then it doesn’t get angry.”
Brad Koele, a state Department of Natural Resources wildlife damage specialist, said the agency doesn’t track sightings and had no numbers specific for Barron County. But Wisconsin does have about 24,000 black bears roaming about, which he described as a “healthy” population.
Barron County lies entirely within the DNR’s Bear Management Zone D. Highways 64 to the south, 27 to the east and 77 to the north roughly define its boundaries.
Most bear conflicts occur in the eastern part of Zone D in Rusk and Sawyer counties. In Barron County, most sightings are nuisance-type complaints, Koele said. The DNR has a cooperative agreement with the USDA Wildlife Services to track bear complaints, and so far in 2021, it has received 30 from Barron County.
“Which is right on track for a typical year,” Koele said.
If necessary, the DNR will trap and relocate a bear – a situation that has happened four times so far this year. The wild animals are moved within 25 miles to a forested area away from agricultural sites and development, Koele said.
The DNR recommends the following if a bear is near a home or cabin:
- Wave arms and make noise to scare it away.
- Back away slowly and seek a safe location to wait for the bear to leave.
- When scaring a bear away, make sure it has a clear escape route; never corner a bear.
- If encountering a bear while in the woods, stay calm and do not approach the bear.
- Never approach a mother bear with cubs.
- Do not attempt to break up a fight between a pet and a bear.
The DNR also advises people follow these steps to avoid attracting black bears:
- Do not knowingly feed a bear.
- Completely remove bird feeders, even during daytime hours – Bears are active during the day and may cause problems even if the feeders are out only during that time.
- Clean areas where bird feeders were located so that accumulated deposits of spilled seed are removed.
- Reduce garbage odors by rinsing food cans before putting them in covered recycling containers or garbage cans.
- Keep meat scraps in the freezer until garbage day, and if possible, keep garbage cans in a closed building until the morning of pick-up.
- Be sure to lock commercial dumpsters.
“Bears are normally solitary forest animals, but their powerful sense of smell can lead them into urban areas in search of food, especially in the spring and fall,” the DNR said in an email.
If unable to resolve a conflict with a bear, contact the USDA Wildlife Services toll-free line at 800-228-1368 for properties in Northern Wisconsin.
More information regarding bears and safety is available on the DNR’s Bear Hunting webpage.
