Neighbors spot black bear in Fox Valley this weekend

FOX VALLEY -- People in the Fox Valley are still on edge after a weekend encounter with a black bear. The bear wandered through yards in Grand Chute and Greenville, before disappearing back into the woods.

Scott Schneider says his neighbor spotted the black bear wandering through backyards around 6:30 Saturday morning, May 12th. "The first reaction was, 'did somebody actually see a bear, or a big dog?' Because we normally don't see bear around here, so we're pretty nervous," Schneider said.

Wildlife biologists with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources say they get up to a dozen calls each year from people in the Fox Valley area who've spotted black bear. "They're looking for food sources, but also familiarity of trying to find their own species," Dick Nikolai with the Wisconsin DNR said.

The DNR says there are some simple steps to keep bears from visiting your hard. "They should pull in their bird feeders, make sure their garbage is not placed out until the day of the collection, and if they have a grill out, make sure the grill is put away in a secure place," Nikolai said.

Parents of small children should take extra precautions. "Before we let the kids play outside, we definitely go around and look to make sure there's nothing out there," Schneider said.

DNR officials say if a bear happens to wander around your yard, you should leave it alone and give it space, and call the DNR or local animal control.

Prior to the 1950s in Wisconsin, bears were unprotected and considered "vermin" by many people. By 1985, the bear hunting season was closed to prevent overharvest. Since then, the population has been slowly decreasing and so have the sightings.