‘Can I believe my eyes here?’ Bear saunters across yard of southern Illinois home
Valerie Brooks Wallin got a jolt to her system moments after she woke up around 7 o’clock Wednesday morning and looked out her window.
A black bear was sauntering around in the yard of her home about two miles from Cobden and near the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. This was a few days after a bear was seen swimming at Kincaid Lake near Murphysboro on Sunday. This lake is about 24 miles north of Wallin’s home.
“It was so shocking that, like you know, ‘Can I believe my eyes here?,’” Wallin said. “I wasn’t ever really scared, except when I thought about my kitties.”
Wallin, who is a retired academic adviser from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, said her two cats seemed cautious but she believes they definitely saw or smelled the bear.
Wallin’s sighting is one of dozens of bear sightings reported across the metro-east and southern Illinois this summer. Wildlife officials don’t know the exact number of bears roaming the region but they believe residents have seen at least two different bears.
The first sightings were reported in Pope, Saline, Williamson and Jackson counties in July. A Kentucky wildlife official said black bears are excellent swimmers and that the bear spotted in July likely swam across the Ohio River to enter Illinois because the Illinois sightings started right after the sightings in western Kentucky stopped on July 5.
Then another wave of sightings were reported in the metro-east, including Belleville, Columbia and Mascoutah. This bear likely swam across the Mississippi River from Missouri, which has an established black bear population of about 900 and has an annual bear hunting season that started in 2021.
In 2021 a bear was spotted in Monroe, Clinton, Washington and Franklin counties. There also was a bear sighting reported in Randolph County in June 2023.
Wildlife experts have said the forests of southern Illinois could support a black bear population if female bears migrate to the area.
For now, residents are seeing male bears who can roam over 100 miles from their home. The female bears only range about 10 miles from their homes, especially if they have cubs, the experts say.
As the black bear population in Missouri slowly moves eastward, that expansion could potentially lead to female bears migrating to Illinois and establishing a breeding population in Illinois.
However, Guillaume Bastille-Rousseau, who is an assistant professor with the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, told the BND this summer that he doesn’t expect females to migrate to Illinois anytime soon.
If you see a black bear, the U.S. Forest Service offers these guidelines:
Do not run. Remain calm, continue facing the bear and slowly back away.
Keep children and pets close at hand.
Never approach or corner a bear.
Never offer food to a bear.
Be aware of the presence of cubs and never come between a bear and its cubs.
Fight back aggressively if a bear attacks you.
If you live an area with black bears, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources offers these tips:
Secure food, garbage and recycling.
Remove or limit use of bird feeders when bears are active.
Avoid leaving pet food outdoors.
Thoroughly clean and store grills and smokers after each use.
Alert neighbors to bear activity.
