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The Dexter bear at night.
Benjamin Wheeler | For AnnArbor.com
It’s not hibernation season, but the Dexter bear appears to be growing more elusive since a string of sightings.
Only two observations have been reported to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources since Wednesday (one of them much closer to Ann Arbor), and the Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office has had no bear reports in the last week.
The DNR removed the live trap it had set near Mast Road on Thursday morning. The trap had been set for 7 days and only “a few small animals, including some raccoons” had wandered into the trap, according to Kristen Bissell, a local DNR wildlife biologist.
Brittney Abbott | Courtesy photo
A resident snapped this photo of the bear in Dexter off Mast Road.
A resident in the Barton Hills area, just north of Ann Arbor, reported seeing the bear Friday night and reported it to the DNR on Saturday.
The DNR was unable to confirm the sighting, and no other signs of the bear’s presence were recorded in the area immediately north of the Huron River near Barton Pond.
Meanwhile, the Dexter bear’s disappearance has sparked rumors in Dexter and online.
One story circulating in local bars and on “The Dexter Bear” Facebook page is that a local farmer shot a rumored “mama bear.” The DNR has not confirmed the presence of a second bear in the area.
For now, the DNR can only wait for more observations.
“It might just be moving into some areas where people aren’t seeing it or running into it as much. It could be people are seeing it and just not reporting it. Maybe it’s decided to go north, maybe it’s decided to go further south,” Bissell said. “We can conjecture all we want, but because we weren’t able to put a collar on it, we won’t know for sure.”
Ben Freed is a summer intern at AnnArbor.com. You can reach him by email at benfreed@annarbor.com or by phone at (734)-623-4674. Follow him on Twitter @BFreedInA2.
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