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Black bear captured in Sheboygan; turned over to DNR for release
Black bear captured in Sheboygan; turned over to DNR for release
SHEBOYGAN -- A large visitor showed up in one Sheboygan neighborhood early Tuesday morning, June 14th. That prompted a visit from Sheboygan police.
A little before 5:00 a.m Tuesday morning, Tricia Meyer woke up to a strange sight.
"My 16-year-old daughter came in and said, 'Mom, why are there policemen in our backyard with guns aimed at the tree,'" said Meyer.
Dianne Meyer
Meyer's family has lived in the same home for 12 years, but she's never seen anything like this.
"My first fear was that was a fugitive and that scared me more than a bear did," said Meyer.
A 250 pound black bear had wandered into the city and planted itself in Meyer's tree. Police showed up after several residents reported seeing the bear walking around.
Black bear in Sheboygan
"It was just kind of sitting, hugging the tree, sitting on the rooftop really. And then it started to move around on the rooftop and then they got it on the other side of the tree with the tranquilizer -- that's when it fell down," said Meyer.
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While we don't typically see bears in cities, a DNR wildlife biologist says it tends to happen at least a few times every year.
"It's rare but it does happen," said Dianne Robinson, Milwaukee County DNR wildlife biologist.
This bear is thought to be a two-year-old male. Robinson says black bears tend to stay with their mother until about age two. After that, young males leave their birth area in search of their own territory. She says sometimes those young bears stumble into an urban area while searching for a new home.
"That bear will move into the area, realize pretty quickly that this is not necessarily the correct place for a black bear to be living and they will move out of that area relatively quickly," said Robinson.
This one was escorted out, but it left residents with a crazy tale to share.
"We have a sister in Florida and she gets bears all the time going through her garbage. So first thing I did was write, 'are you jealous I've got one too,'" said Meyer.
Black bear in Sheboygan
Sheboygan police say no one was hurt while the bear was on the loose. It was later turned over to the DNR, which will handle its release back into the wild.