Glen Arbor bear returns … with cub (on video)
From staff reports
Glen Arbor’s sleeping bear has awoken and has been sighted all over town in recent weeks.
Bruce Laycock, who lives off of Trumbull Road, above Dunn’s Farm, in Glen Arbor Township, took a video on Wednesday morning, May 6, of the Glen Arbor black bear and its cub. The Glen Lakes are visible in the background. He took the photos both by zooming in with his iPhone 6 and with a small Nikon. (Scroll down to watch the video.)
“I woke up to the sunflower feeders bent over and the thistle not touched,” said Laycock. “The cub was up and down the trees and continued to play while his mother finished off the feeders. It was very cool to watch the interaction. The mother occasionally played with the cub.”
The presence of this black bear has drawn mixed reactions from the townsfolk.
“My fear is this summer, one walking up on my deck with the screens open on the door will come right in the house,” Suzanne Roe wrote on our website. “We must do the obvious and not feed the birds, hummingbirds, outside dog food and … store BBQ grills away until it moves on or is captured. … This is serious in a residential area.”
Roe wants fellow Glen Arborites to call the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and file enough complaints so that the DNR comes to trap and remove the bear.
“I just got off the phone with DNR in Traverse City,” Roe continued. “I am the first one to report a bear in my yard. They assured me that if more report it, they will trap it and relocate it. Just curious as to why those who have seen it haven’t reported it.”
Another reader, Tom D, takes a more nuanced approach to the bear.
“If you knew how many bears were and always have been in the area, you might be astonished,” he responded to Roe’s comments. “A bear is not going to hurt you! Yes, they may steal some scraps out of a garbage can and/or knock down a bird feeder or two but they pose no real danger to humans … at least Michigan Black Bears don’t anyway.”
“The fact is, you are much more likely to get attacked or be involved in an incident involving property damage or crop damage by those pesky Michigan Whitetail Deer than you are a bear! Also know that insects, snakes and other smaller wildlife actually offer more danger to you and your neighbors than bears do. So please, make sure you load up the shotgun and start blasting the mosquitoes and ticks because they are much more dangerous!”
