Posted on 05/25/2021 8:31:11 AM PDT by SJackson
Eric Schauber, Illinois State biologist and director of the Illinois Natural History Survey, said Illinois usually sees an influx in spring.
Illinois residents may be surprised to see some large, furry visitors over the next couple of months as black bears are making their way down from Wisconsin and passing through Illinois in increasing numbers.
Eric Schauber, Illinois State biologist and director of the Illinois Natural History Survey, said Illinois usually sees an influx during springtime. Young male bears are likely the kind to be seen passing through in Illinois, he adds.
"They can move quite a ways, and that's especially true of young males," Schauber said.
"They will disperse away from the area where they were born and seek out new places to establish a home range and look for mates."
The bears are likely heading toward Missouri and Kentucky where there are more hardwood forests and available food like acorns and hickory nuts, Schauber said.
"The kind of landscape we have in southern Illinois, it's not good habitat so they're going to keep moving until they find an area that looks more suitable and a place where they can find other bears," Schauber said.
While black bears strive to avoid humans, they could end up anywhere, Schauber said.
"When a bear is moving through unfamiliar territory, it's not going to know where food might be, where cover might be, where risky areas might be and so it's tough to predict where they might end up," Schauber said.
Schauber warns that pretty much anything is food to a bear, from skunk cabbage to rotting roadkill, so he suggests minimizing food sources around the house if you don't want a scavenging visit.
"If there are indications that a bear might be around, then that would be a good time to take your bird feeder down, make sure your trash can is stowed away, those kinds of things," Schauber said.
If an individual does encounter a black bear, Schauber said to remember they don't want to be there any more than you do.
"The thing to do is not run, remain calm and let the bear know you're there, and start moving away from it," Schauber said. "So if it is going in a particular direction, let it. Let it go that direction, and give it as much space as you can. In the very rare case where the bear takes an interest, you want to stand your ground and make louder noises to let the bear know that you know it's there, and it will likely move on.
In unrelated news there has been a baffling crime wave of stolen picnic baskets
Black bears are usually shy of humans.
Usually.
You still want your .44mag with 300gr hard cast handy though.
For now they're bypassing Chicago. Lots of forest preserves, lots of garbage cans to raid, but for now no female bears to occasion a stop. Bears are doing ‘normal bear stuff’ so far in the Black Hills region, GFP official says
Smart bears! They take one look at Illinois and keep on moving. I’d wager they got a look at Lightfoot and skedaddled.
Now if they’d just all go roaming thru Chicago.
They’re heading for Wall Street!
One was euthanized last week in norman ok of all places
Probably, though a journalist black bear would be eligible to interview her.
Isn’t noting that the bears are BLACK racist?
Better black bears passing through than black male criminals.
Yes, they saw the direction of tax rates and headed for Wisconsin
“Heading towards Missouri and Kentucky”
Stupid bears.
They already had the Kentucky Derby!
They’ll be sitting up in the stands eating hot dogs and drinking Mint Juleps and arguing about which horse to bet on.
“They can move quite a ways”
That’s because they don’t have much furniture.
A recliner.....a bed.....a rock or two.....some pinecones.....
“The bears are likely heading toward Missouri and Kentucky where there are more hardwood forests and available food like acorns and hickory nuts,”
If that is want then southern MI should be full of bears, because it’s all hardwood forest and farm fields.
“They don’t want to be there any more than you do”
Well, then, they can just pack up their honey eating behinds and move to Canada and learn to love hockey.
They are BLACK bears so know to avoid that city.
A friend of mine in a wooded suburb north of Orlando finds bears in his swimming pool every year or two. His elderly Golden Retrievers have learned to qietly watch them from the safety of the house.
Smarter than the average bear. They’re passing through and not staying.
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