Alert! Black bear snacking from Afton back-yard bird feeders

Updated: August 9, 2007 - 8:19 PM

Warning to the citizens of Afton: Your bird feeders are in peril.

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Warning to the citizens of Afton: Your bird feeders are in peril.

For at least a couple of weeks, several people have spotted a black bear wandering about the southeastern Washington County suburb and occasionally stopping in residential yards to sample the birdseed.

Although bears live in northern Washington and Anoka counties, one as far south as Afton is a bit unusual, and it probably followed the St. Croix River, said Bryan Lueth, an urban wildlife specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

There's no indication the bear is aggressive or endangering anything other than its appetite, and there are no plans to trap and move it, he said. The hope is that the bear makes its way back to more rural surroundings.

The bear was first spotted two weeks ago by a hiker in Afton State Park. The most recent sighting was Sunday, in the 1000 block of Manning Avenue S.

The DNR is encouraging Afton residents to remove their bird feeders (or at least bring them in for the night), secure garbage or store it indoors, feed pets indoors and keep dogs inside.

If you see the bear, Lueth said, make noise and back away from it. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, it will back away on its own," he said.

KEVIN DUCHSCHERE