Black bears are the only kind of bear Wisconsin has and depending on the late fall/early winter weather, black bears can enter their dens in late November into December. Once in their dens, they DO NOT eat, drink, urinate or defecate. I don’t have to tell most of the folks living in the Northwoods, but for those who don’t know much about bears, after hibernation, males will leave their den first and females stay in their den until her cubs (1 to 3) are strong enough and will weigh around 5 pounds. Black bears generally avoid humans, but because they haven’t eaten for 4 or 5 months, once their metabolism is back to normal, the first thing on their minds is replacing the 30 to 40 percent of their body weight they lost over winter.

Bears are very intelligent, and not only can they remember where they found food, but depending on wind direction, can smell a source of food over 15 miles away. Even though bears (most of the time) want to avoid humans, because their natural food supplies are limited, they will look for meals anywhere and the best place is around homes and cabins. I’m not saying you won’t see bears close to your home, but here are a few tips that could make bears just pass by and not look for dinner.

• STORE TRASH CANS INSIDE UNTIL THE MORNING ITS PICKED UP.
• TAKE IN BIRD FEEDERS AT NIGHT, WITH HUMMINGBIRD FEEDERS BEING #1 ATRACTION.
• AFTER GRILLING, CLEAN AND PLACE GRILL INSIDE IF POSIBLE.
• DO NOT LEAVE ANY PET FOOD OR CORN OUT FOR WILDLIFE.

I like to give a few examples of spring bear encounters I personally know of that happened within the last two weeks.

1. On two different occasions a friend’s dog chased a bear out of his back yard.
2. Other friends woke to find the lid of their dumpster open with garbage/food spread around the container.
3. Yet another friend saw a bear eating from her bird feeder and that night while letting her dog out, a bear was between her house and garage only 15 feet from her door.

Now you know that YOGI and BOO BOO are awake and hungry.