Champlin woman's bird feeder camera catches black bear in action, destroying all of her bird feeders – kare11.com

CHAMPLIN, Minn. — For more than 30 years, Chris Hudy has called her Champlin backyard home—and somewhat of a personal retreat. With the Elm Creek Park Reserve bordering her property, the line between yard and wilderness is hardly noticeable.
“We don’t have a cabin. This is like our cabin,” Hudy said.
The peaceful setting comes with regular visits from local wildlife. “We normally get just a lot of deer and rabbits. Sometimes foxes, raccoons, normal kinds of things,” she added. 
But on Monday morning, Hudy woke up to an unusual scene: her bird feeders had been destroyed. The culprit? A black bear caught in the act on her bird feeder camera.
“It had already knocked the camera thing on the ground and it’s eating the bird seed out of the bird feeder,” Hudy said. “All you see is its big snout eating my camera bird feeder.”
While black bears are typically found in northern Minnesota, their range is expanding. Experts from the Three Rivers Park District say bear sightings in the metro area are becoming more common as their population grows.
“We’ve had bears at Elm Creek Park Reserve since 2020, so they’ve been residents at Elm Creek Park for the past five years,” said Three Rivers Park District Senior Wildlife Manager Steven Hogg. “This year, we do know that there’s a mom up there with three cubs.”
According to Hogg, bears generally aren’t a danger to people. He emphasizes the importance of giving them space and never feeding or approaching them.
“To be honest, bears are just overly sized raccoons, and they don’t want to be around people,” he said.
Hogg also recommends taking down your bird feeders—something Hudy learned the hard way after all three of hers were torn apart. In a typically calm and quiet neighborhood, the bear’s visit has certainly made waves.
“This has been the excitement of the neighborhood, definitely,” Hudy said.
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