Dexter Bear enjoying celebrity, but may be wearing out its welcome
What started as a few fleeting sightings of the "Dexter bear" has turned into a full-fledged social media and marketing extravaganza in the community west of Ann Arbor.
Since the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Office confirmed sightings, in the Dexter area last week, the local bear (or bears?) now has its own Twitter account, Facebook page, clothing line, and even specials at local restaurants.
However, the bear isn't a whimsical novelty to all Dexter residents. There have been recent complaints about the bear (or bears) knocking over trash cans, damaging property, and even breaking into a backyard chicken coop and killing or dispersing most of its inhabitants. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been repeatedly warning people not to attract the bear.
But not everyone is as concerned as the DNR. Katie’s Food and Spirits is offering a Black Bear Breakfast Special and will have bear claws for sale all week. A line of clothing on Cafepress.com features the Dexter bear, with $1 of every sale going to Hudson Mills Metropark, where the bear was first sighted.
Dexter Resident Brittney Abbott took this photo of the Dexter Bear in her back yard
Courtesy Brittney Abbott
The Dexter Bear Facebook page features a photo album of the bear’s “Wild Road Trip” around Dexter, in which a stuffed black bear makes appearances at Dexter businesses and landmarks.
While the bear’s appearance has been fun for some, others have seen a more destructive side. Brittney Abbott lives on Mast Road (bear sighting ground-zero) and keeps free-range chickens in a coop in her back yard.
“They tore all the fencing off the coop. I had 14 chickens, and now only two are left. The rest were mauled or are missing,” Abbott said.
The Washtenaw County Sheriff’s office told AnnArbor.com that it received a call on Saturday night from someone driving on Mast Road who saw a bear chasing a chicken.
Until the attack on her coop, Abbott had a friendly relationship with the bears and had snapped a few pictures.
“They’ll come right in front of my door and sit down,” she said. “They’ll let me get within a foot of them; they’re not afraid of me at all. If cars pull in the driveway they’ll come out and check it out and then go back into the woods.”
According to Kristin Bissell, a wildlife biologist in the Waterloo Field Office of the Michigan DNR, the live trap the DNR set for the bear is within 2,000 feet of Abbott’s home. The trap is on a nearby property where the bear broke into some beehives.
The DNR says there's only one bear in Dexter, while Abbott insists that there are two. She says they have been observing the pigs that she also keeps in her yard.
Abbott's chicken coop was damaged and most of her chickens were dead or missing after an attack by the so-called "Dexter Bear."
Courtesy Brittney Abbott
Bissell said the observation of the second bear had not been verified by the DNR.
“It’s not a big surprise that you would get a bear down here now and then,” she said. “But with the new evidence that there might be two, we could be dealing with a more unique situation.”
According to Bissell, there has never been a bear successfully trapped in Washtenaw County. There was a trap set up for a bear a couple of years ago, but it moved on before it could be trapped and collared.
The DNR checks the trap at least once a day, but so far only a few raccoons have wandered in. The DNR’s plan is to trap and release the bear with a radio collar, but those plans could change if the bear destroys more local property.
The DNR and the sheriff’s office have issued repeated calls for residents to stay away from the bear (or bears) and to report any sightings to their offices.
The DNR encourages people to first call the sheriff’s office at 734-973-4911 and then leave a message with the Waterloo field office at 517-522-4097.
Ben Freed is a summer intern at AnnArbor.com. You can reach him by email at benfreed@annarbor.com or by phone at (734)-623-4674. Follow him on Twitter @BFreedInA2.
Comments
NGRASSLAKE
Mon, Jul 11, 2011 : 6:24 p.m.
rfe
maverik
Fri, Jun 24, 2011 : 1:50 a.m.
puts some pies and donuts out, its used to that
maverik
Fri, Jun 24, 2011 : 1:49 a.m.
the bear is probably waiting for its owner to come pick it up
maverik
Fri, Jun 24, 2011 : 1:38 a.m.
Sounds very much like a young bear that was raised by humans and is used to being around humans or a human. The fact that it is staying just about in the same area and the type of things it is eating should give the DNR a clue, or do they need to study up on the different behavior between "wild" and human raised bears. Try baiting the trap with lots of donuts, pies and cookies and cakes, bet you would have a better chance of trapping it, as I would bet that this bear was raised more on these types of things rather than a diet of a wild bear. Come on DNR, get a real clue.
15crown00
Thu, Jun 23, 2011 : 1:49 p.m.
what is it Be good to Bears time in Dexter?they are dangerous.you keep playing with them They Will Get You. and then there will be all kinds of complaints and a law suit all because of not taking precautions.
SillyTree
Thu, Jun 23, 2011 : 10:13 a.m.
When I was living in the upper peninsula, I once read an article about what makes the black bear dangerous. It's all in the bear's smile. It has a face that makes it look like it is constantly smiling. As humans, we see this as friendly. It has nothing to do with the bear's mood. The bear could be ready to attack and might still look ready to sit down for tea. The fact that people interpret the black bear's facial features as the expression of a smile makes them do stupid things like walk right up to the bear. The black bear is a BEAR. It is a wild animal. If you yell at it from a distance, it will take the easy way out and run. If you walk up to it, it may feel it has to defend itself. It CAN defend itself. It doesn't think, "oh what a nice person they are feeding me." It thinks FOOD and only food. Your generosity goes unnoticed. The way the bears sees it, he found the food or maybe even took the food AND he took it from YOU. Think what a bad time you would have if your dog was wild and turned on you. Now multiply that by 100x. You don't want to have a bear associating people with food. Ignatz said it best. Bears, nice to look at from a distance.
winner
Thu, Jun 23, 2011 : 1:23 a.m.
It's all good until the bear acts like.... a bear and mauls a small child. Then we will really have something to talk about, won't we?
Bertha Venation
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 8:37 p.m.
Before you cast judgements on Britteny, I know from personal experience that AnnArbor.com often puts their own spin on the facts.
bunnyabbot
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 10:02 p.m.
they certainly do
Bertha Venation
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 8:27 p.m.
Poor thing. Fame come and gone already.... how quiickly they forget when you were GREAT!
lugemachine
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 8:15 p.m.
It'd be awesome if they trapped the bear only to discover that his name actually is Dexter... and he'd be like "How'd you know my name?" And the trappers would be like "Dude, we didn't.. it's totally a coincidence!" and he'd be like "No way!!" ...this is going to be deleted, isn't it?
smokeblwr
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 2:22 p.m.
Sarah Palin could probably solve the bear problem.
bedrog
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 6:45 p.m.
by getting the bear to laugh itself to death?? ( her recent widely broadcast reinterpretation of american colonial history was the kind of stuff even tina fey couldnt make up!!)
aawolve
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 5:06 p.m.
Who wouldn't trade a bear problem for WWIII?
Christy King
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 1:52 p.m.
Based on what Brittney has said, I'm going to venture a guess that this will end badly. May the force be with you.
tim
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 11:59 a.m.
All this is nothing new-- there have been multiple bear sightings in Waterloo twp and in the area north of Manchester for the past five years. They especially like the potato farm on Pleasant lake rd.
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 3:31 a.m.
Lets all just be grateful that this isn't the first appearance of the Dexter Wolverines. If people think they're having trouble with a couple of black bears, a few days of having wolverines in their neighborhoods would cure them of that concern. It's all relative. In our area, we're just not experienced with this kind of wildlife. If people in Alaska and British Columbia see these news articles about our "great bear scare", they'll be rolling on the floor laughing. I would like to see the DNR be more helpful in advising people of how to repel and drive these bears from people's yards. The bears are already accustomed to humans and they'll certainly have ample opportunity to run into people's dogs wanting to protect their territory. If nothing else, this creates a lot of noise and a good probability of pets being killed or injured. The only explanation I can think of for merely tracking the bears is that the DNR believes they'll soon move out on their own. But I've seen no specific statements to that effect. One thing is certain: the bears will go where they will unless they're non-lethally side tracked to a safer area.
Cendra Lynn
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:39 a.m.
Yes, of course it's sensible to stay away from bears. What's even more sensible is to learn what researchers have learned about bears. Bear.org not only has this information, it has wonderful photos, web cams, and the whole story of Hope and Lily.
RTFM
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:17 a.m.
Political Photo Day with Dexter Area Bear All state and local politicians are encouraged to come to the north side of Dexter this Saturday to have photos taken with the bear. Elected officials this is your opportunity to be on ground floor of a political stardom to make your name known worldwide. Remember Teddy Roosevelt's run in with a bear launched his career into political stardom with what we know of today as the infamous "teddy bear". Bear friendly sweet treats are recommended, but not required for the photo session.
Anne
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:14 a.m.
@BunnyAbbot "You live in the boonies near wild life. If you don't want the bears around make the area less hospitable by taking away the attractive food sources." Where they have been sited is about 1 MAYBE 2 miles from Downtown Dexter, I would hardly call that the "boonies" The bears SHOULD not be living in a downtown area. That is NOT a place for them. I do think that people that live in "Bear Country" or whatever you are calling it would agree with me.
bunnyabbot
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 3:17 p.m.
if you think that Dexter isn't rural or the boonies I would call that something like Urban Dysmorphic Syndrome, what ever it would be pretaining to urbanization and not the body.
bunnyabbot
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 2:59 p.m.
sorry dexter is pretty much all boonies, downtown encompasses a few blocks, you can drive from one end to the other less than five mins and can go in any direction and in 5 mins be on a farm
townie54
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:12 a.m.
yea saying we need to learn to live with bears is fine if you live in Idaho or up north where there are fewer people.Its just not practical for southeast michigan which is the most populated area in the state.Either the Bears or more animals or a person are gonna get hurt.Someone will start feeding them so they can have them come to their back yard everynight and show their friends.You know they will.Yea its cool to have them but they need relocated.
Joslyn at the U
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 11:39 p.m.
Bears are cool but they will tear you a new rear end! Stay clear of them and respect the danger. A black bear is the one bear that will most assuredly come up the tree after you if you piss it off.
IamHungry!!
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 10:54 p.m.
I wonder what Katie's is cooking up for BREAKFAST!!
actionjackson
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 11:30 a.m.
Bear jelly on a bagel.
jcj
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 10:41 p.m.
@bunnyabbot How hospitable are you to spiders in your house? How about a hornet that gets in the car? What do you do if a ground hog is digging under your porch? What about snakes? If you allow all of these creatures of mother nature to go about their business where ever they choose fine. BUT if you exterminate ANY of these. You should not be so critical of those that would prefer bears not be in their yard!
bunnyabbot
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 3:03 p.m.
but the bear is not IN the home, nor is it IN the car and it isn't denning UNDER the porch and unlike a snake a bear cannot find it's way into a one inch gap and have hundreds of babies and then return to nest the next seasons in the same spot. Bears almost always find a new place to den the following years. So your examples of infestation don't compare to a bear in the back yard.
AlwaysLate
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 10:09 p.m.
Umm, correct me if I'm wrong, but chickens kept in a COOP...can't be Free Range. If they truely were Free Range, there would probably be more alive...because they could run away.
Anne
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 4:37 p.m.
A chicken needs a place to roost in order to lay eggs. A chicken is considered free range if it has a place to walk and peck and get around to sread its wings. Chickens that are not free range are trapped in a small small cage where they only thing they can do is lay down and lay eggs
jcj
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 10:41 p.m.
Chickens could be free range with access to a coop for roosting.
bedrog
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 9:18 p.m.
I completely agree with the commenters who recognize that co-existence with wild animals is both doable and appropriate when we have encroached on their territory ,via urban.suburban/rural sprawl. With species like bears caution /respect / non-anthropomorphism ( ala the pooh-syndrome) should be the rule, along with prudence about feeding, even inadvertantly...just as deer depredation on my ornamental plants is the 'tax' i happily pay for living in a wooded setting. feral hogs are another matter, since they are not a naturally occurring species .
bunnyabbot
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 8:54 p.m.
So many comments here are rediculous. Those that say the bears are encroaching into your yards and destroying your property are starting to sound hystraical. SO WHAT. The bears are wild animals which happen to be a native species of Michigan. So what if you have a bee hive hobby or keep chickens. Deal with it. You live in the boonies near wild life. If you don't want the bears around make the area less hospitable by taking away the attractive food sources. Chicken feed, bird food, humming bird feeders, dog food, cat food, beehives etc etc are essentially rolling out a red carpet to the bears. (this includes compost piles of kitchen scraps/garbage). the chances of these bears being ones that someone just kicked out of a human raised home is near zero. Now if it were a Bengal Tiger I could say that would be the case, however Black Bears are NATIVE to Michigan. also as I stated before bears don't go after pigs, they do however want to eat whatever it is you feed your pigs. If they hang around the pigs it's becasue they might want to chase the pigs off to get to the food and after sizing them up they may want to do so. I swear you crybabies would make anyone one that lives in "bear country" laugh their butts off. You don't want to have a bear in your yard? move
jcj
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 11:18 p.m.
I too have been up close and personal with bears. Have been to Katmai National Park and Preserve, a park in Alaska. Where most of the photos of brown bear catching salmon at the falls are taken. Have been 30 yds from monster brown bears with nothing but air between us and a camera in my hand. They are very majestic animals.
bunnyabbot
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 2:55 p.m.
@jcj YES! I have had personal experience with bears, first off if I am in a known area for bears, such as in hiking or camping I know the precautions to take, wear bells or have bear spray or talk with the people I am with. For camping it is not having food around, tie it in a tree away from the campsite or store it in a bear safe container which are usually at the campsites. (and don't sleep in the clothes you cooked in lest you smell like a hotdog). Also know what to do if I encounter a bear. next for bears around homes, not here near ann arbor has this happened (yet) BUT I have several members of my extended family that routinely have bear encounters or coexist with bears without problems near where they live. Black Bears here in Michigan and Black Bear and Grizzly out west. Matter of fact I sent these bear article links to them and got several replies about current bear happenings near them. Some also lost all of their chickens and geese. One had a black bear eating out of the bird feeder, this caused the dogs to bark and the bear came over and smacked the window, spider cracking the window without breaking it. Out west a bear got into the barn and killed a horse a couple summers ago. One of their neighbors couldn't go to work one day because a bear decided to sit on the porch one day right next to his truck. As the seasons change the bears change the areas where the forage, they get bored and roam off somewhere. My point in general is that what these bear(s) are doing and have done, (hives and chickens and hanging around) are far from being a nuisance or problem bears. This is far from distructive. Learn to, as others have, to let them be, take precautions (food sources, look before you exit the house) and learn to deal with it.
jcj
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:05 a.m.
Have you had personal experience with bears?
Bob W
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 8:52 p.m.
Of course she/we have encroached on their territory. We did so with such abandon years ago, that we drove them out along with many other species. Take a note from folks who live in the northern part of the state. They learned to live with them, we should as well. Yes, it might mean having to take some extra measures, but jeez should we kill/relocate every species that causes a few issues with us humans? It is our insistence to to have 5 acre lots miles from the nearest town that is the root of most of these problems.
tim
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 12:03 p.m.
Easy to say ---- until someone gets hurt or killed, these bears are obviously not afraid of people-- not a good thing.
Gramma
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 9:27 p.m.
Back in the day, one of the first things you learned was not to mess with wild animals and to be cautious with domesticated ones. You do not try to pet a wild animal or mess in any way with baby animals (their parents will get very aggressive).You don't feed Canada geese, even if they live in a park. Never approach bears, deer, geese, raccoons, or any other wild animal. You don't go in a pasture with a bull and never get in the way during mating season. You also don't chase a skunk or corner any animal. I grew up in the country and we coexisted with wildlife.
rocco
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:39 p.m.
Stop criticizing Brittany!!! She's the innocent victim here. There is a concept in the Natural World called encroachment. Brittany hasn't encroached on anyone or any species. But the bears have. They are out of their element and out of control and must be relocated. Besides being a nuisance, the bears are dangerous. More people are killed by black bears in the US than grizzlies. There are proven ways to learn to live in harmony with wild animals, but they all assume that the animals have sufficient territory for movement and breeding and natural food sources. Eating honey from people's hives and eating live chickens doesn't qualify. We need to get these bears tranquilized and out of here. Maybe all the people having fun with this (myself included) should have a fundraiser to pay for a private sector remover to come today and move the bears. I wouldn't wait for DNR or anyone else if my chickens or honey was under attack.
Gramma
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 8:41 p.m.
Humans encroached on the bears (and other species) environments quite a few years ago. The animals moved on to more remote areas. Now those areas are being built up, so many animals are coming back into the areas populated by humans in an effort to find someplace to live. Since their natural food sources have been depleted, they will consume things "owned" by humans in these urbanized areas. Other species "becoming a nuisance" in urban areas are deer, raccoons, coyotes, and the occasional bobcat. We need to develop more protected habitat areas.
Jas Dudzik
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:37 p.m.
Before rushing to any judgments, please go to bear.org and read the wealth of information there. There is also a Facebook page called Lily the Black Bear. Both sites are moderated and kid-friendly. My unfounded terror of bears spanned many years until I saw these sites and recently encountered wild black bears in Minnesota under the supervision of Dr. Lynn Rogers (a Grand Rapids native), of "Bearwalker of the North Woods" fame. He points out that black bears have personalities just like humans do, and most will go out of the way to avoid humans. Some of their nervous behaviors like bluff charges and blowing and swatting might be interpreted as attacks by people. You will also find very helpful advice on things to do if you encounter a black bear.
Mick52
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:34 p.m.
I hope some of the money from the t shirt sales can go to replace the chickens. After the bears leave the area.
wolfman jack
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 9:43 p.m.
No parity for chickens !
smokeblwr
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
Chicken, pig, garbage, its ALL good to me!
Tom Teague
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:05 p.m.
Maybe, as a community service, annarbor.com could contact a real bear expert and publish a Q&A about the dangers of getting too close to a bear and what you should do if a bear approaches you or takes up residence in your back yard. The comments have been full of postings about how black bears aren't dangerous -- one commenter actually likened them to raccoons -- while the DNR and police warnings are getting buried deep inside the stories.
Tom Teague
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:14 p.m.
It also might be time for annarbor.com to rethink the "bear as celebrity" approach of the articles and leave the lighter tone to the bears' Facebook page, twitter account, and their agent who licensed their likenesses for tee shirts.
Roger Roth
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:03 p.m.
Clearly, if you approach a bear with love and wonderment in your heart, your hand out held in a gesture of friendship and community, even perhaps holding a cookie, the bear will respond with love and comradery, come up to you, gently lift the friendship offering from your hand, put it in her mouth, shake hands with you, say "thanks," turn around, start to leave, but then face you again and humbly ask if you might have just one more tiny cookie for the kid, then, after receiving that from you, turn happily and amble off into the woods. Why, the Grizzly Man had an amazing relationship with bears for a considerable length of time up there in Alaska, until things turned a little sour. I'll ask you this: if bears are so bad, why are there Teddy Bears and not Teddy Chickens, and not Teddy Rhinos, and Teddy Great Whites and Teddy Cobras and Teddy Hyenas, huh? What about Whinnie the Pooh? He's a bear. I feel bad for the bear, maligning her like she's some sort of communist or something. Bears everywhere, unite! Solidbearity!
Tom Teague
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 2:13 p.m.
The most commonly told version of the story is that TR REFUSED to shoot a tethered bear on a Mississippi hunting expedition. The poor bear was badly abused in the capture, though, and TR may have asked that someone put it out of its misery. Later cartoon drawings of the incident depicted the bear as small and cute which gave an American shop keeper the idea for the Teddy Bear. I don't think Teddy was above hunting bears - I found a reference to a presidential bear hunt in 1905 in Colorado. There is a scene in the mostly fictional movie "The Wind and the Lion" in which Brian Keith as TR waxes about the American character while he sits near a bear that he shot in Yellowstone and that bear eventually ended up in the Smithsonian. I can't find anything that confirms whether that's based on a true story.
Rork Kuick
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 1:17 p.m.
"He sometimes shot tethered bears for sport." You have that exactly wrong I think. He refused to do so it the famous story. Search "Teddy Bear" on the web, and quit making stuff up.
Roger Roth
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 10:13 p.m.
Thanks for the info. I didn't know that. This other info about Teddy negatively impacts my opinion of him.
Gramma
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 8:33 p.m.
They're named teddy bears after Teddy Roosevelt, who loved a good bear hunt. He sometimes shot tethered bears for sport.
brittney
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:28 p.m.
I do not just walk up to the bear. I would like to see what everyone else would do if they had bears in their back yard. I put this story out there so the community would know the bears are not afraid of us. So people could be aware. I hope the dnr and the local police. Station realizes thebears need tone removed from the area. _
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:43 p.m.
the DNR would love a picture of the second bear. Ann Arbor.com would love a picture of the second bear. channels 2,4 and 7 would love a picture of the second bear. So would the Detroit Free Press and News.....
Anne
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:40 p.m.
With all due respect craig. The Police Don't confirm a sighting until they have seen one themselves. They stopped coming to her house.
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 7:05 p.m.
with all due respect Anne , one can take a picture from a distance. In addition a picture of a second bear would be useful to authorities, who at this point consider it unconfirmed. Further more the stance of the DNR as to the ultimate outcome for this/these bears is evolving as the story indicates.... "The DNR's plan is to trap and release the bear with a radio collar, but those plans could change if the bear destroys more local property."
Anne
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:47 p.m.
OK. so let's all tell Brittney to take pictures so she can prove her story them write mean comments to her for doing so. She has to be able to live her life, when you honk they are not afraid and guess what people. They weren't BORN on her property they showed up there. This fact leads me to think that maybe someone else was friendly with them. We certainly have not been. ALSO the dnr and the local police have no plans to remove them from anywhere. They want to study and track them. She has to live with them. And we have been doing everything we can to make them not want to stay there. The food they have gotten from her yard was taken by force, you can tell from the claw marks on the chicken coop. Stop attacking her for being a victim of this unique situation. She got close to them to like you all want take a picture to prove they are real. And because one time they walked towards her.
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:22 p.m.
Gramma@ "Don't take pictures...." you lost me on that one. Why wouldn't one take a picture?
Rob Skrobola
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:22 p.m.
So, if you're "getting within 1 foot of the bear", you are training this animal to lose it's healthy fear of you. Once that happens, the possibility that it will attack you, your animals, or someone else increases enormously. So please, STOP doing that. As someone pointed out, you should make your yard as bear unfriendly as possible for your own sake, and for the sake of the bear(s). Rob
Hmm
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:10 p.m.
I would watch the bear from the safety of my own house and never even THINK to attempt to get "within one foot" of it. Not because of a fear of attack but because like everyone else is saying I wouldn't want to make it feel comfortable in my backyard. That's what I would do and probably what you should be doing too
Gramma
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:07 p.m.
If the DNR has set a live trap, they are trying to move the bear. Make your yard as bear unfriendly as possible. As bunnyabbott said, when you see a bear, make all the noise possible. Put your chickens in an enclosed, secure coop. Put bells and other things that make noise when touched around the coop. Don't take pictures. Notify the DNR at the moment the bears are in your yard. Don't get out of your car if there is a bear standing there. Blow your horn repeatedly or continuously. If you don't have motion lights, put them up. If you have children or small pets, please don't let them out to play while the bear is around. Teach your children to immediately come in the house if they see the bear. If children see you go close to the bear, they will do so.
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:58 p.m.
can you get a picture of the second bear?
Tom Teague
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:27 p.m.
As it's been pointed out to countless hikers and outdoor sports enthusiasts in my old Smoky Mountain stomping grounds: The first rule for surviving a bear encounter is "Don't have a bear encounter." Many comments have focused on the unlikelihood of getting killed by a black bear. That's statistically true, but ignores the unpredictability of hungry bears that have grown comfortable being around people. Putting yourself into a position where you're bitten or scratched by a black bear is going to hurt and will probably lead to the the DNR tracking down and euthanizing the bears no matter the level of provocation or the number of community pleas to spare the bears' lives. So, even if you don't care for your own hide enough to not approach them, please have some consideration for the bears and stay back. Wary admiration at a safe distance can spare them and you some pain.
amlive
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:17 p.m.
"They'll come right in front of my door and sit down," she said. "They'll let me get within a foot of them; they're not afraid of me at all. If cars pull in the driveway they'll come out and check it out and then go back into the woods." Okay, exactly what part of the repeated warnings not to approach or befriend the bears have you not understood? Brittney, THIS is exactly the kind of thing that can potentially make bears dangerous, by letting them get used to people and loose or fail to develop a natural fear of us. If there are fines for such activity (I suppose there probably aren't), you should certainly receive them by your own admission of your actions. You are training them to become a nuisance and hazard, and it is actions such as this that will lead to them having to be relocated or killed. And they're not just looking at your pigs for fun. They're looking for a way to get through the fence to eat them. If you don't take action to frighten or deter them away from your property, then you deserve to loose any livestock they end up taking. And for the DNR live trap, might I suggest tethering a live chicken inside?
amlive
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 9:03 p.m.
Sorry Brittney, perhaps I was mistaken about your relationship with the bear(s). The way the article was written, with lines such as " Abbott had a friendly relationship with the bears and had snapped a few pictures", or "They'll let me get within a foot of them; they're not afraid of me at all", you must admit that the article portrayed you as being pretty cozy with them and treating them more like pets until they got in to your chicken coup. Perhaps the author could have made it a bit more clear that you were not trying to befriend them, because that's how they sure made it sound originally, and is what my original rant was based on. My apologies if this was misguided. I've spent most of my life in northern Michigan before moving to this semi-tropical republic of Ann Arbor though, am quite familiar with bears, and know how much of a nuisance they can be. If you speak to the DNR or police about this again, I would kindly ask them what in god's name they are talking about in regards to a fine for scaring or deterring bears away. So if you see a bear, or any other nuisance wildlife on your property or in your garden, it is illegal to open the door and start banging pots and pans, or shouting, or blowing a whistle to scare them away? If a bear comes on to your property to eat your chickens, you are required to just sit there and watch without making a sound, lest you frighten the poor thing? Methinks either they were smoking something in the woods behind your house, or perhaps you may have misunderstood the details of what they were saying. If there were indeed such a law, I would love to hear about it, and any examples of if it has ever been enforced.
brittney
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:56 p.m.
Oh am amlive, just another note. I have at the DNR and the Police come to my house guess what, there is a fine for deter them away and trying to frighten them. You don't know anything about the situation and probably should run your mouth about subjects you don't understand.
brittney
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 6:44 p.m.
The bear showed up in my yard with no invite. I was told my authorities not to fire warning shots, and not to harm the bear in any way. I am not trying to get close to the bears other than the pictures I took on two different days. It has now been over ten days that the bears have been living in my yard. Everyone here is missing the point. The point is I do not want the bears in my yard, or my life. In my opinion they chose my yard because you can not see it from the road, and there was plenty of food for it. I did not feed the bears and invested time and money into my animals, so for you say anything about me doing something to encourage the bears outrages me! You have nothing better to do with your time but concentrate on me, when there are BEARS living thirty seconds from the town of Dexter. Try and see the real problem. I told my story to show awareness not be judge for something out of my control.
Gramma
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:57 p.m.
The fact that she tries to get close to them means that she is letting them know that humans are friendly. It encourages them to keep coming into her yard. This may be why they "live there."
Anne
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:36 p.m.
Excuse me. Amlive. These bears live at her house. We are doing nothing to attract them or befriend them. They are not afraid of people. What do you suppose a person should do when they pull in their driveway and a bear is on their front walk way? She is tying to live her life and go about her day but she is unable to do so because of the bears. This is not a novelty funny thing to anyone that has been personally affected by this form of wildlife calling their yard home. On the topic of the pigs. Our pigs weigh over 100 lbs each. If you knew anything about Black Bears you would know that they are lazy eaters, they only eat meat when it is of convenience to them. Our large pigs are not friendly and will fight back. I doubt the bears would eat them. We are not befriending them. The literally LIVE in her yard. There is nothing that anyone is doing about it. She is figuring out a way to live around this wild animal. NO ONE can understand this unless they also have black bears living in their yard. WHICH I seriously doubt that you do.
tommy_t
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:16 p.m.
Maybe the High School should change the mascot to Bears - The Dexter Bears - good ring to it.
dougfroma2
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:23 p.m.
Yeah, way eazier to spell than Dread not...
bunnyabbot
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:11 p.m.
should say Ms Abbott got a good picture there :) the bear is adorable. However getting near the bear is just making it use to humans, the idea would be to make a human something to avoid, by not being pleasant around. Scare it off with bells or an air horn. Stop trying to get a good picture. Be an unpleasant racket.
Craig Lounsbury
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.
perhaps Ms. Abbot could get some pictures of the "mother bear" that is unconfirmed as far as the authorities are concerned.
bunnyabbot
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 5 p.m.
well it likes honey and live chickens, bait the trap with that. additionally, I have never heard of a bear attacking a pig. Chickens yes, but pigs they usually are curious about but don't go after.
cinnabar7071
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 4:53 p.m.
"They'll let me get within a foot of them;" I cant to read how this turns out. Just don't blame the bear when you get mauled.
Ignatz
Tue, Jun 21, 2011 : 4:34 p.m.
"It's kind of a cool thing."? It's a bear! They're not cool, they're bears! I advise everyone to stay away from bears. They're bears!
obviouscomment
Wed, Jun 22, 2011 : 2:56 a.m.
best comment ever!