Post date: May 9, 2011 8:17:40 PM

Article by: DOUG SMITH , Star Tribune

Updated: May 7, 2011 - 11:59 PM

• A bear apparently has attacked and killed five sheep in the Henning area, and another farmer lost two calves from a predator, reports DNR conservation officer Tricia Plautz.

• A bear has been spotted in the area of Northfield and Lonsdale.

Black bear sighted near Union Lake

Submitted by Faribault Daily News on Fri, 05/06/2011 - 23:22

Isabelle Wattenberg, editor@northfieldnews.com

At least three households off Hwy. 19 reported either paw prints or empty and damaged bird feeders in their yards last week, and residents of one household captured photos of a black bear eating from their feeder. (Photo by Jean Novotny)

Bird seed proved sweeter than honey — or at least more accessible — for a black bear who tore down and emptied bird feeders at several homes west of Northfield this past week.

At least three households off Hwy. 19 reported either paw prints or empty and damaged bird feeders in their yards last week, and residents of one household captured photos of the bear eating from their feeder. The incident follows a bear sighting last June not far from the area.

Black bears used to roam all over the state, but in the last half of the 19th century into the early 20th, they were viewed as a nuisance and hunted completely out of the area, according to state Department of Natural Resources area wildlife manager Jeanine Vorland. As wildlife conservation has become more important, the black bear has come back in numbers. They are now hunted by permit. There are roughly 20,000 bears in the state.

And now one in Rice County, who has apparently been here for more than a year, Vorland says. Although the DNR doesn’t know for sure, Vorland speculated that the bruin is likely a younger male.

Police and DNR officials said a half-dozen to 10 households near Union Lake just south of Hwy. 19 and also west past Lonsdale reported either paw prints or empty and damaged bird feeders in their yards last week. Most told the DNR they thought it was interesting to see the animal in the area. None seem particularly concerned about safety. Although bears are omnivores, they are often more afraid of people than people are of them.

Albany Avenue residents Helen and Milo Edel said the bear visited their house last Sunday night. According to Helen Edel, the bear bent a pole to the ground in order to reach the feeder hanging from it, and also ate an entire bag of feed. She said the bear poses a danger to the neighborhood.

“I’d like to have him caught,” she said. “With the kids around, I don’t know if he’d hurt them.”

Jean Novotny, who lives on 70th Street West, said the bear’s presence did not worry her, but that she was displeased with the property damage it caused.

“He just demolished all of our feeders,” Novotny said. “We had a flood light on, and that didn’t even bother him.”

Novotny said the bear sighting was exciting. Novotny and her husband first spotted the bear just over two weeks ago. It returned for six consecutive nights and would run away when they pounded on their windows or if it heard dogs barking. They managed to snap some photographs of the bear from their patio 15 feet away.

“We have been feeding birds for a long time and we get a lot of different kinds,” said Novotny. “But never a bear bird.”

“He woke hungry and he’s probably making the rounds,” she said. Bird-feeders are a favorite target because black bears love sunflower seeds and they are nutritious as well.

Joe Kalina saw signs of the bear a week ago Wednesday. He said he will not be putting out any more bird seed until the fall.

“It’s a nuisance,” he said.

While the bear’s current whereabouts are unknown, Kalina said he heard that the bear was spotted near Mulligan’s on Hwy. 19.

Bear-proof your home:

• Remove bird feeders or hang them at least 10 feet high and 4 feet away from the nearest trees.

• Store pet or livestock feed indoors.

• Keep garbage bags in tightly secured plastic and keep trash cans clean.

• Do not let fallen fruit rot on the ground; pick up fallen fruit immediately.

Source: www.bearicuda.com