Wandering bear causes stir in city

A yearling bear foraging for food has been drawing a lot of local attention in Shawano over the past two days, while officials were considering Thursday afternoon whether to trap it or let it eventually wander off on its own.

“Everybody’s been chasing it,” said Jim Horne, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources conservation warden.

The bear was even chased up a tree at one point.

Horne was waiting to hear back from Animal Services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture about setting a trap if necessary. In the meantime, he advised residents to let the animal be.

“Quit chasing it. Quit standing under the tree,” he said. “It’s not going to come down while you’re there.”

Horne said this is a typical occurrence for this time of year, “when mom chases the yearlings away, like the fawns.”

Newborn cubs typically spend their first winter and first summer with mom, Horne said, but after the second winter they’re on their own.

That’s apparently been the case with the bear that was first spotted wandering around Shawano on Wednesday morning, trying to find food for the first time on its own.

Mostly the bear has been eating bird seed found in city yards, Horne said.

Shawano police received their first call about the bear about 10:45 a.m. Wednesday when a caller reported a small bear in the yards and looking into garages around Alpine Drive and Alpine Terrace.

It was spotted Thursday morning south of Anderson Avenue near the railroad tracks where it spent some time in a tree, peeked into a garage and polished off the bird seed in a feeder at one home before moving on.

Tim Larsen, who snapped a photo of it, said the bear was very friendly and not afraid to walk up to people.

However, he said, “if one does encounter this cub, I’d keep my distance just in case.”

The bear was last reported near Shawano Medical Center on Thursday afternoon.