Be black bear aware: Sightings on the rise in northeast Iowa – Bellevue Herald Leader

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Welcome! We hope that you enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in or create an account to continue reading.
Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
Thank you for signing in! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Thank you for reading! We hope that you continue to enjoy our free content.
Checking back? Since you viewed this item previously you can read it again.
Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Please purchase a subscription to continue reading.
Your current subscription does not provide access to this content.
Sorry, no promotional deals were found matching that code.
Promotional Rates were found for your code.
Sorry, an error occurred.

do not remove
A wayward black bear was photographed in the front yard of Jim and Kate Michels at their home in Bellevue in June 2024.

A wayward black bear was photographed in the front yard of Jim and Kate Michels at their home in Bellevue in June 2024.
As unbelievable as it might seem, black bears do live in Iowa. Seeing one is likely to become more common, according to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The DNR has been meeting with officials from local conservation boards, police departments, sheriff’s offices and dispatchers from counties in northeast Iowa to discuss how to respond when black bears come strolling through later this spring.
“Bears emerge in the spring looking for food, generally feeding on the early greens and don’t really care about humans, they’re just being a bear,” said Vince Evelsizer, state furbearer and wetlands biologist with the Iowa DNR.
In Iowa, the spike in bear activity occurs in late May and June, which is the breeding season when a few black bears are more likely to disburse from Minnesota and Wisconsin, where populations are much larger and growing. Minnesota has an estimated 16,000 black bears, while Wisconsin’s population is around 24,000.
“Black bears are not that far from Iowa’s border,” Evelsizer said. “We typically have two to five bear sightings each year, which we believe are usually younger males. They are relatively timid, and just looking for food and/or females. It’s new and exciting, but can lead to human-bear conflicts.”
Bears have been responsible for destroying bee hives and have been found on back decks and in back yards emptying bird feeders. If a bear does show up around the house, he said try to scare it from a safe distance because bears don’t like loud noises.
“Use loud noises, like yelling at it, clapping two pieces of two-by-fours loudly, or banging pots and pans,” he said.
“Give bears plenty of space to move on and also, take away food attractants,” he said. “Do not feed bears as that rewards the bear for coming into town and associate’s humans with food. Removing any outdoor pet food dishes, bird feeders, trash cans and grills into secure locations will help to avoid conflicts and encourages the bear to move on.”
Meetings were held in Dubuque and Fayette with city and county officials from Winneshiek, Allamakee, Clayton, Fayette and Dubuque counties, connecting officials who will likely be involved in one way or another when a bear appears this spring.
“We don’t want to block the bear’s travel, or back it into a corner. If a bear climbs a tree to escape onlookers, it can jeopardize the safety of the bear itself – you need to give it plenty of space. Folks can enjoy seeing a bear, but from a safe distance. It’s a neat thing, but give it space – as in 100 yards or more,” he said.
Iowa’s growing bear population
Iowa has gone from having an occasional visiting bear, to more frequent visiting bears to now having two to four bears move in and over-winter. And could see more in the future.
“Sightings are still of individual bears. We haven’t documented cubs or a breeding population yet,” Evelsizer said.
Students from Drake University modeled habitat across Northeast Iowa favorable to black bears, as part of a capstone project, and determined that with its larger sections of timber, Northeast Iowa could support up to 1,100 black bears.
Black bears are native to Iowa, but had been eliminated by the late 1800s as the state was settled. Since the species was gone, black bears were not listed as a furbearer species by the Iowa legislature of the day, and currently have no protection in the state.
“It’s pretty exciting to think about that – there might be a bear in the woods,” Evelsizer said. “Some people love bears; some people are scared to death of bears and bear attacks, because of the amount of misinformation out there.”
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.
Cloudy. Some light rain is likely. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Cloudy. Some light rain is likely. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Showers in the morning, then cloudy in the afternoon. High near 65F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.

Wind: NNE @ 5 mph
Precip: 15% Chance
Humidity: 64%
Wind Chill: 59°
Heat Index: 59°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
Dew Point: 47°

Wind: NNE @ 5 mph
Precip: 59% Chance
Humidity: 69%
Wind Chill: 57°
Heat Index: 58°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 5 mi
Dew Point: 48°

Wind: NNE @ 4 mph
Precip: 75% Chance
Humidity: 74%
Wind Chill: 56°
Heat Index: 57°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 5 mi
Dew Point: 48°

Wind: N @ 4 mph
Precip: 71% Chance
Humidity: 85%
Wind Chill: 53°
Heat Index: 54°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 5 mi
Dew Point: 49°

Wind: N @ 5 mph
Precip: 71% Chance
Humidity: 89%
Wind Chill: 52°
Heat Index: 53°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 4 mi
Dew Point: 50°

Wind: NNE @ 6 mph
Precip: 51% Chance
Humidity: 90%
Wind Chill: 52°
Heat Index: 54°
UV Index: 0 Low
Visibility: 4 mi
Dew Point: 51°

Wind: NNE @ 8 mph
Precip: 31% Chance
Humidity: 90%
Wind Chill: 52°
Heat Index: 55°
UV Index: 1 Low
Visibility: 9 mi
Dew Point: 52°

Wind: NNE @ 7 mph
Precip: 41% Chance
Humidity: 88%
Wind Chill: 54°
Heat Index: 56°
UV Index: 1 Low
Visibility: 7 mi
Dew Point: 52°

Wind: NNE @ 7 mph
Precip: 17% Chance
Humidity: 84%
Wind Chill: 56°
Heat Index: 57°
UV Index: 2 Low
Visibility: 10 mi
Dew Point: 53°

Wind: NNE @ 7 mph
Precip: 11% Chance
Humidity: 82%
Wind Chill: 57°
Heat Index: 58°
UV Index: 3 Moderate
Visibility: 10 mi
Dew Point: 53°

Wind: NNE @ 7 mph
Precip: 15% Chance
Humidity: 78%
Wind Chill: 59°
Heat Index: 60°
UV Index: 3 Moderate
Visibility: 10 mi
Dew Point: 53°

Wind: NNE @ 8 mph
Precip: 15% Chance
Humidity: 73%
Wind Chill: 61°
Heat Index: 62°
UV Index: 4 Moderate
Visibility: 10 mi
Dew Point: 53°
Your browser is out of date and potentially vulnerable to security risks.
We recommend switching to one of the following browsers:

source