Another Black Bear has reportedly been sighting near the Walker, Missouri Area in a muddy field on the Southside of U.S. 54 Highway. On Wednesday around 2pm in the afternoon a person reported seeing a blackbear and taking a picture of it with his camera.
Black bears are hungry when they emerge in the early Spring and most black bears causing nuisance problems are yearling males driven away by the mothers. Black bears generally look for new shoots of many plants but will seek readily available foods, bird seed, cat and dog food, livestock feed as well as what they can find in the trash as well as on barbecue grills. Food should not be left on a grill or the owner could find it in shreds on the lawn.
Black bears are protected under terms of the Missouri Wildlife Code and may be killed only with the permission of a Conservation Agent and only by methods he or she authorizes unless they are attacking or killing livestock, domestic animals or humans. Black bears killed in such circumstances must be reported to a Conservation Agent immediately and the intact carcass -- including the pelt -- must be surrendered within 24 hours. Bears most often are just passing through and are not after livestock, they are probably more scared of people and should be left alone.
