CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A black bear was spotted on a trail camera on a farm in Montgomery County over the weekend.
“It was pretty amazing. I get hundreds and hundreds of pictures of deer and then all of a sudden there’s a big black bear,” Matt Powell told WKRN News 2.
He said the bear roamed his property in the Sango community near exit 11 in Clarksville early Saturday morning.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) believes it’s a male black bear that is around two years old and is looking for a home.
“Quite often new male bears, even female bears will be kicked out of the maternal group and when that happens they have to find their space, so he’s on the move,” Barry Cross with the TWRA told News 2.
Cross said images captured on a trail camera two weeks ago in Logan, Kentucky appear to be the same bear some 40 miles away. He said the bear population is expanding in the North and East, so their range is going to naturally expand.
“Typically a bear is not going to set up a home range if there aren’t other bears in the area, so typically they’ll set up a home range that he came from,” he said.
Cross said eventually bears make homes in Middle Tennessee.
In the meantime, if you see one, you’re advised to stay away.
“Bears are a wild animal. You don’t go pick them up, you don’t go play with them, you don’t go get a selfie made with a bear. Observe them from a distance,” Cross said.
The TWRA said they don’t plan to intervene with the bear’s path unless it becomes a nuisance.
Cross said the biggest thing you can do to protect the bear – and yourself – is to make sure there isn’t any food outside of your home.
“If a bear does find a food source it will come to it and it’s going to eat whatever it finds obviously, so we just want people to number one to observe them from a distance, don’t try and approach them, make sure your home is clean from any food outdoors and we shouldn’t have any problems,” he said.
If you see a bear, call TWRA at 615-781-6500.