Discover a bear den in Michigan? Here's what the DNR wants you to do
A bear selected for the DNR's ongoing bear management project will be sedated and fitted with a collar and ear tags, and biologists will collect data before carefully returning the bear to its den, where it will remain throughout the winter months.
(FOX 2) - You're wandering in the woods of northern Michigan when you stumble across the entrance to a bear den. What do you do?
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources hopes you'll do two things: keep a safe distance from the den and report it to the agency.
Black bears populate parts of northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula and typically seek refuge from the winter months in November and December. They tend to select dens that give them shelter from the elements as they hibernate and care for their young.
Those that do find a den may hear the sounds of cubs nursing and crying. The entrances will look like brush piles covered in snow or excavated holes in the ground.
Currently, the DNR is monitoring six bears with the help of radio tracking equipment, Mark Boersen who works for the DNR as a wildlife biologist said. The more they find, the better they can manage their populations.
"Finding winter den locations is an important component to managing black bear populations, and we need hunter, trapper and landowner assistance to add new den sites to the program in the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula," he said.
If discovered, biologists will determine if the bear would be a good candidate for an ongoing project that would include fitting them for a collar and ear tag. They're then returned to the den where it will remain for winter.
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For those that find a possible bear den, the DNR asks you record the location and pass it along to the department. If it's in the UP, Cody Norton is the best person to contact at 906-202-3023 or NortonC3@Michigan.gov,
For discoveries in the lower peninsula, people should contact Boersen at 989-275-5151 or BoersenM@Michigan.gov.