Published: July 24, 2008 11:40 pm      

Another bear spotted in Meridian

Another black bear has been sighted inside the Meridian city limits, according to wildlife officials.

On June 16, Joyce Bond arrived home about midnight from her late shift work at Wal Mart. She lives on State Boulevard Extension about a mile from Okatibbee Creek.

As Joyce turned her car around to back into her carport, she spotted a movement between her and State Boulevard. Driving closer to investigate, she encountered an adult black bear at a distance of 50 feet. “It was not wearing a collar,” she reported, being aware of the black bear that was trapped earlier this year near Key Field airport and fitted with a radio transmitting collar.

Bond watched the bear cross her driveway and her neighbor’s yard in plain view and is 100 percent certain the animal was a black bear.

“He was grown because he appeared to be as long as the width of my driveway,” Joyce said.

Brad Young, the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Black Bear Program Leader, recorded the sighting and found it interesting that Meridian seems to be a hot spot for bears. Young also reported that an aircraft flight over Lauderdale and Clarke counties seeking a radio signal from the collar on the bear that was trapped near Key Field yielded no signal. Male bears can travel long distances in brief periods of time.

Residents should never attempt to feed a bear or put out feed or garbage in an attempt to attract one, officials said. A bear that finds feed will come back for more and if the feed is withheld the bear can become destructive of property in searching for it and possibly could become aggressive. An aggressive bear often must be trapped and moved and they nearly always return, which can lead to their having to be destroyed.

Sightings of bears should always be reported to local wildlife authorities. News of a bear sighting obtained by the Meridian Star will be passed on to MDWFP officials. Such sightings are valuable to Mississippi’s bear program.