Black Bear Awakens

indiana-black-bear

 

Big Oaks Wildlife Refuge, near Madison, Indiana,  says the state’s only black bear is out of hibernation and roaming around near Madison, looking for food. The refuge wrote on their Facebook page that the bear was spotted foraging for food in a cornfield near the refuge on March 11.

The young bear is the same bear that Indiana DNR officials believe swam across the Ohio River into Indiana last summer. The bear spent the winter hibernating in the Big Oaks refuge.

Warmer weather means the bear will be out and about more often, but the Indiana DNR says you won’t have to worry much about a bad encounter with the bear. Black bears are generally not aggressive and tend to flee after encountering a human.

The DNR says if you an encounter a bear, don’t run. Shout, wave your arms and back away slowly also never intentionally feed bears.

(story from Network Indiana)