MICHIGAN CITY, Ind. — A black bear roaming this northwestern Indiana community for several days knocked over several beehives at a farm that supplies more than 20,000 pounds of raw honey each year to places like Four Winds Casino outside New Buffalo and Spire Farm to Fork restaurant in La Porte.
The first confirmed black bear in Indiana since 1871 also tore into a plastic jar of marshmallow, leaving teeth marks in the container, and ‘’licked clean’’ a mostly empty jar of peanut butter dragged from the garbage can prior fleeing Panos Farm at 5907 Warnke Road, said Pete Livas, operator of the farm just east of Indiana 212.
Livas didn’t make it outside quickly enough on June 17 to see the bear. He heard it, though, venturing through the woods on his nine-acre spread after eight of his beehives and several of his trash containers were toppled. "We just heard the bushes rattling as it was going away."
The bear is believed to be the same one that has migrated here from about 200 miles away in Michigan over the past two months. Evidence of the bear at the farm was one of several recent encounters in the area over the previous several days, including at least three confirmed sightings of the animal.
Don Green and his wife, Kelli, on June 16 got up when their trash cans were knocked over to find a bear less than 10 feet away from their sliding glass door on their back patio along Meer Road, north of U.S. Highway 20. They stayed behind the glass as the bear knocked over more cans and dragged a plastic bag of trash to the edge of a wooded area – where it feasted, staying for about an hour before leaving.
On June 18, there was another sighting in a nearby heavily wooded subdivision off Warnke Road, where metal posts holding blue bird and wren boxes were bent at a 90-degree angle by the bear foraging. The nests inside the boxes were gone.
"We had baby birds in both of them, so I imagine all of the baby birds were eaten, because there’s just nothing left back there," said Bruce Manner of 201 Hillcrest Road, about a mile west of the honey farm.
He said it was about 5 a.m. when he received a text message that his neighbor had seen the bear through one of his windows. Manner chose to stay inside for several hours, before going out to find bird boxes in pieces and a decorative table knocked over.
Trail Creek, a tributary for trout and salmon migrating to and from Lake Michigan, runs through the area. Next to the banks have been matted spots where the bear was laying and hairs in the bark of trees it was leaning against, said Shawn Brown, a conservation officer with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
Chris Magnuson, an administrator at the nearby municipal golf course, said players showing up were being advised of bear sightings prior to hitting the links, but nobody was heeding the warnings. "They’ll play in whatever the conditions," said Magnuson.
Despite the slew of encounters, Brown said there’s been no change in strategy. The bear will continue to be monitored in hopes it will head back north on its own, but if it starts to present a danger the Michigan DNR will be called in to try to trap the bear. Panos said the bear likely took off after being stung by some of thousands of bees fleeing their hives. Fortunately, the bees stayed close until he and some helpers could put on their beekeeper suits and put the hives back into their wooden boxes.
Livas said he knows some people are ‘’freaking out’’ from having a bear in a state that hasn’t had a confirmed sighting for well over a century, but his attitude is much more welcoming. "To me it sounds like this bear has a sweet tooth. He’s going for something sweet.
"If we leave him alone, he’ll leave us alone," said Livas, whose other customers include local breweries that use his honey in making craft beer, and buyers at farmers’ markets.
The bear is believed to be the same one that on May 1 was seen near Grand Rapids. Late last week, the first sightings of a cub with the bear were reported. Brown did not rule out the possibility but emphasized one set of tracks has been discovered at every location and there’s been no evidence of a second bear.
Experts speculate perhaps the bear has stopped its westward migration, sensing a need to return home. Others, like Manner, wonder if the animal was feeling squeezed by development and ventured south looking for more comfortable surroundings.
"Maybe he’s found a home. That’s what I’m thinking," said Manner.
Brown said the best thing for people to do if they see a bear is not run because that might cause it to feel threatened and trigger an attack. People should stand still, make a lot of noise and wave their arms to scare the bear into walking away.
