Huron County Animal Control Officer Bob Trick says he believes bears have become permanent residents of Huron County over the past few years.
Trick says in the past year he's received 25 to 30 reports of bear sightings ranging in size from 200 to 350 pounds and covering and area from Port Albert to the north as far south as St. Joseph and east to Dublin and there have been pictures to support many of those reports.
Trick says at this time the bears are busy eating to build up their body weight for winter and as soon as the snow starts falling and the temperatures drop they'll go into hibernation and we won't see them until next spring.
Trick comments given the number of sightings it's fortunate there haven't been any confrontations with people but he explains bears don't really want to see us any more than we want to see them.
He suggests if people do see a bear they should very slowly walk away and says problems sometimes arise when someone walking their dog encounters a bear and the dog goes after the bear and the people try to protect the dog.
He recommends people protect themselves first.
Trick also advises people against leaving any garbage or food scraps out where they might attract the attention of a bear.
He points out they'll go wherever food is available and if there is none they'll move on.
