Bears in Indiana?

[Militarypol21]

So I put my image into photoshop and lightened / darkened the colors and then made a comparison to other images that are indeed black bear tracks. I'm about 95% sure this is indeed an actual black bear track.

My image is the one highlighted in RED:

There has been considerable evidence of Black Bear activity that seems to suggest that the population may be extending its range back into historical territories in Ohio, Kentucky, Texas, and other areas where bears were eradicated and have not been present for a considerable amount of time. It is suspected that adolescent males seeking new territory are wandering far and wide, literally hundreds of miles, by following natural and manmade corridors (rivers and highways) back into their ancestral lands. It has generally been recent policy that if the animal does not become a nuisance, is not a danger, or is not in any imminent peril, that it be allowed to exist unmolested and without hindrance. Most cases remain out of the general public's knowledge until there has been a significant human-bear encounter. Note that while dispersing male bears wander far, females generally stay near where they were born. Because of this, although bears may show up in unexpected places, reproducing populations are slower to expand from core areas.

Source: American Black Bear - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Species Last Seen
Elk - 1830
Wolverine - 1852
Bison - 1830
Fisher - 1859
Lynx - 1832
Gray Wolf - 1908
Red Wolf - 1832
Porcupine - 1918
Black Rat - 1845
Eastern Spotted Skunk - 1920
Black Bear - 1850
River Otter (now reintroduced) - 1942
Mountain Lion - 1851
Prairie Chicken - 1972

Source: Facts and Figures on the State of Indiana

 

[Indy317]

They say there are no bears in Indiana, but a farmer out in Hancock Co. swears he saw a bear down near a creek or river bed near the Hancock/Henry Co. line a few years back.

Anyways, if people find out black bears are in Indiana, my guess is they won't last long as they will likely be hunted out because they are so "rare" here. A shame really.

Recall the wolf that was found shot and killed in SE Indiana about five years ago. A co-worker of mine reads a predator hunting forum. A thread was started about wolves being in Indiana. The "official" report is that this wolf had been tagged as a pup in Wisconsin and magically made it from Wisconsin, around the Chicago metro area, through Ill. and IN, and almost to the Cincinnati metro area before someone shot it and a farmer found it dead in his field. Well, as the thread continued, one poster posted that he had information that the Indiana DNR purposely trapped one male and one female wolf and released them in Brown Co. or around that area to see what would happen. So my co-worker checks the thread the next day and it had been deleted.

 

[Boilers]

What would be everyone's pros/cons to purposefully introducing/transplanting bears, wolves, etc.?

 

[Militarypol21]

What would be everyone's pros/cons to purposefully introducing/transplanting bears, wolves, etc.?

It would be nice to see bears / wolves / etc brought back into Indiana but then you have to ask, why did they leave in the first place? And if they were introduced back into Indiana how long would they stay before seeking new territory. How will it throw off the ecosystem? And the biggest question is... How long before people start killing off these animals because they are so rare (Like what Indy317 is saying)?

 

[LEaSH]

The DNR has a strange way of doing things, but once in a while it pays off.
For many of the people that are working for the DNR, it is a dream job, and they are very passionate about their duties to the environment.

If a wolf pack develops a taste for livestock people are going to scream until the politicians higher up get involved.
If a wolf pack manages to thin the deer population of the sick and diseased - the way it has worked naturally all along - the department gets little or no recognition.

The Michigan DNR has continued to deny the existence of cougar in the northern lower peninsula. With sightings from farmers, residents, tourists, and cops, the DNR still officially dismisses any witnessed sighting. "No proof, probably just a big brown dog...", comes the response.

I read somewhere that an outsider was testing scat to see if dna revealed the cougar's presence.

When the DNR denies such a thing so vehemently, you know they're behind it.

 

[holejack1]

I have encountered timber rattlers in Brown, Morgan, and Monroe counties. These were the real thing, not just a snake shaking it's tail. I have a friend in Morgan co that swears he saw a wolf, but I have yet to see a bobcat, wolf, bear, anaconda, buffalo, 6' bunnyrabit, or bigfoot, and I'm not holding my breath for any of em.

 

[Boilers]

Hey, we had Bison in our neighborhood once.
A farm just a 1/2 mile or so East of my house raised Bison for meat. They were getting out of that business and loading them into a trailer when some broke free.
I tell my wife we live where the buffalo roam.

They shot them. And I did not get a chance to.

 

[shooter521]

I have yet to see a bobcat, wolf, bear, anaconda, buffalo, 6' bunnyrabit, or bigfoot, and I'm not holding my breath for any of em.

Just because you haven't seen them doesn't mean they're not out there. Not necessarily talking about anacondas or 6-ft. rabbits, of course.

The Nature Conservancy in Indiana - JWN - Indiana Bobcats

 

[tyler34]

when I lived in ellettsville as a kid there was a bobcat in the woods behind our house, scared the bejesus out of me as I thought is was something more than a bobcat.

 

[Boilers]

One thing is for sure, Indiana is SO BORING that even WILDLIFE STAYS AWAY FROM HERE!!!!!

 

[Keith H]

It would be nice to see .....wolves / etc brought back into Indiana ..........

Negative. I like the deer pops as they are and don't need to worry about being stalked to and from the deer stand or duck blind. I've read more than a few accounts of Bear Hunters in WI having their dogs killed by wolves. They need a season, unfortunately the WI DNR, is just left to provide minor compensation instead of a tag.

 

[Jed]

There are NO WILD BEARS in Indiana. That is not to say a single "pet bear" couldn't have gotten loose, but this whole thread is highly suspect.
Its sort of like the "Big Black" cat sightings, Big foot, or Alligators in the sewers.
If this isn't a deliberate hoax {anyone with common sense can fake a print} its likely a simple case of wishful thinking.
I have been trapping in Indiana for 19 years... and NEVER have a seen a single sign of a bear... you would think dead animals on snares would be an easy meal and therefore attract any large predators in the area.
This whole thread should be placed under the UFO, Bigfoot, and Chupacabra section.

 

[Boilers]

So, Mr. Trapper, what prints are those in the original post of this thread?

(Serious question)

 

[jennybird]

I bet it's Manbearpig.



I keed I keed! It's entirely possible that it really was a bear. We may never know and we will have to somehow come to terms with that.

 

[Jed]

With nothing in the photo for scale its impossible to tell what the prints are {couldn't you at least have thrown down some change so we had an idea of scale?} Plus they are weathered which often distorts prints.
I agree with jennybird on this one... or at least the prints are likely to be from the Manbearpig as anything else I have read on this thread.

 

[Sailor]

An old 77 yr old buddy told me this a few yrs ago.

DNR people are bringing back black bear to Indiana, they are raising them now on leased land in Crawford County, very securely I might add. Elk are being raised and developed now in Orange County, home of town of French Lick, Ind. (Larry Bird 's town, and the town nearest to where I grew up at.)

 

[trophyhunter]

An old 77 yr old buddy told me this a few yrs ago.

DNR people are bringing back black bear to Indiana, they are raising them now on leased land in Crawford County, very securely I might add. Elk are being raised and developed now in Orange County, home of town of French Lick, Ind. (Larry Bird 's town, and the town nearest to where I grew up at.)

Now that might have the real possibility of being credible from a dollars and cents standpoint. If there was a viable season for either of those in our state, people would spend the dollars to hunt them, be they residents or otherwise. I would love to hunt Elk at home!

 

[Militarypol21]

There are NO WILD BEARS in Indiana. That is not to say a single "pet bear" couldn't have gotten loose, but this whole thread is highly suspect.
Its sort of like the "Big Black" cat sightings, Big foot, or Alligators in the sewers.
If this isn't a deliberate hoax {anyone with common sense can fake a print} its likely a simple case of wishful thinking.
I have been trapping in Indiana for 19 years... and NEVER have a seen a single sign of a bear... you would think dead animals on snares would be an easy meal and therefore attract any large predators in the area.
This whole thread should be placed under the UFO, Bigfoot, and Chupacabra section.

I have better things to do with my time then coming up with some hoax to put on INGO. If I wanted to make up a hoax it would have been something a lot more rare than a bear print. There were plenty of bears in Indiana before 1850 why not now? There are also plenty of bears in Tenn / Kentucky Area and even some spotted in parts of Ohio... why would it be odd for them to seek new territory in Southern Indiana?

 

[cosermann]

There are also plenty of bears in Tenn / Kentucky Area and even some spotted in parts of Ohio... why would it be odd for them to seek new territory in Southern Indiana?

And there are bears in Michigan. Used to be mostly northern Michigan when I was a kid, but it's becoming increasingly common to see them in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula (even according to the MI DNR - DNR - Michigan Black Bear Facts ).

So, seeing how we're virtually surrounded by bears (except for maybe IL), it's just a matter of time before the expand here if there aren't a few around already.

Oh, and by the way, with all those bears up in Michigan, a significant population, I never once saw one in all my time out in the woods. It would be very easy to spend decades out in the woods as a sportsman in Indiana and never run across one, if there are a few around.

 

[SSilvers]

20 yrs ago there were 3 Black Bears getting into dumpsters outside of Coal City, a friend of ours seen them on a regular basis.