Bear is removed from a U.P. barn and given a nice den by a wildlife crew

 By Sheri McWhirter

January 18, 2023

                                     MI MARQUETTE - When a farmer in Marquette County saw a yearling black bear dozing in his cow barn amid the hay bales, the bear was startled into awakening.

The bear was retrieved from behind several sizable, round hay bales inside the up-north barn on January 15 after being tranquillized by a wildlife staff from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. However, they didn't kick the little brute out without first signing a lease on a new place to live.

Biologists transported the bear 35 kilometres away to state territory where they excavated a new burrow under a downed tree, lined it with some of the farmer's donated hay, and hid the yearling behind some pine boughs and snow, where they hope it will stay for the remainder of the winter.

According to DNR wildlife scientist Brian Roell, "We left him there and instructed him to behave and remain there."

Although bears occasionally are known to pick a crawl space beneath a home for a winter cave, or even clamber under a wooden deck, this is the first instance the state wildlife specialist claimed he has ever heard of a bear to bed down inside a barn.

However, this little bear had been sleeping in rather comfy surroundings.

"The bear had positioned himself admirably in the barn. Had a wonderful little hay nest, and when he just wanted to go grab some grain, he was eating it, according to Roell.

There were cows in the barn to keep him company, and a radio was on. He believed he was enjoying the high life.

In reality, black bears don't hibernate. Even though they spend the winter largely resting, they only slightly lower their body temperature, so they may readily wake up and run away if they feel threatened.

“I think the bear probably was in the barn for quite a while. But they happened to be unloading a bunch of lumber into the barn on Saturday and the bear woke up and ran out of the barn,” Roell said.

The bear returned shortly after and hunkered back down into its cozy hay nest, so the farmer called the DNR for help.

The juvenile bear's first winter away from its mother is probably this one. The average time a cub spends with their mother is around a year and a half, with the exception of the winter they spend denting with her and the spring they separate.

Roell said that the black bear population in Michigan is strong and flourishing.

According to scientists, there are around 2,200 bears in the Lower Peninsula and 10,700 bears in the Upper Peninsula. In the U.P., that is a 25% increase over the previous ten years, and below the Mackinac Bridge, a roughly 70% increase.

According to data, the Lower Peninsula's Traverse City and Gaylord regions receive the most of bear-related nuisance complaints. The majority of the U.P.'s complaints about nuisances are lodged in Sault Ste. Marie, on Drummond Island, and along the Keweenaw Peninsula's section between Baraga and Houghton.

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