Bears continue to be spotted in Lambton County.
Jena Racher told the Sydenham Current her and a friend spotted one while driving last week outside of Petrolia.
“Me and a buddy were driving down Marthaville going into town and we saw this big black thing,” Racher said.
“I thought it was a dog at first, but he was certain it was a bear so we turned around and pulled over and it was a bear.”
Racher said they went back home to pickup a camera.
“Neither of us had our phones so we went back to my place and grabbed a camera and my mom and went back,” she said.
“When we got back he was further back in the field. We took the picture with our camera.”
Racher added: “My brother came with binoculars and we stood there for a while just looking at it… it was pretty cool.”
Racher said she hadn’t seen a bear in this area before.
“My neighbors saw it in basically the same spot a year ago,” she said.
The Sarnia Observer is reporting that some students on a school bus spotted a bear near Rokeby Line and Tile Yard Road on Friday as well.
A bear was spotted on June 1 in the area of Cedarview Drive Lambton Shores, Ontario in response to a black bear sighting.
In this instance, OPP officials say a 300 pound black bear accessed a persons back yard from a cliff that slopes toward the beach area of Lake Huron.
“It did appear that once the black bear identified human presence; he left the residential property and was last seen departing toward the beach,” OPP officials said.
OPP officials said the following day a resident of Plympton-Wyoming saw a black bear within an agricultural field in the area of Michigan Line and Hillsboro Road.
“Neighbouring residents and police kept observation on the bush lot in order to monitor the bears behaviour and direction of travel,” police said. “After some time, the bear was not seen nor did it create a nuisance or display aggressive behaviour. The previous black bear sighting is approximately 20 kilometers from (the June 2) sighting location.”
The OPP say black bears are not strangers to Ontario.
“In the past few years we have seen bear and moose inhabit areas of Lambton County,” police officials said.
“The OPP recommend that if you encounter a black bear that appears to be a predatory nuisance; that you inform the Police Service of jurisdiction and or the Ministry of Natural Resources.”
Here is some more information from the province:
Emergency encounters
Bears want to avoid humans. Most encounters are not aggressive and attacks are rare. But if you feel a bear poses an immediate threat to personal safety, you need to act.
Call 911 or local police, if a bear:
– Enters a school yard when school is in session
– Enters or tries to enter a residence
– Wanders into a public gathering
– Kills livestock/pets and lingers at the site
– Stalks people and lingers at the site
Non-emergency encounters
Call the Bear Wise reporting line at 1-866-514-2327 (April 1-November 30) if a bear is:
– Roaming around, checking garbage cans
– Breaking into a shed where garbage or food is stored
– In a tree
– Pulling down a bird feeder or knocking over a barbecue
– Moving through a backyard or field but is not lingering
– Submitted photo
