The bear sightings reported in Clinton in April and more recently around Utica should come as no surprise, especially at this time of year.
“What you have are young males that are dispersing from the [female bears] that raised them up until this point in their lives,” says Anthony Ballard, the Black Bear Program Leader for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. “They’re about a year and a half old, and they’re out on their own for the first time. They’re roaming tens or hundreds of miles looking for, basically, a place to call home.”
Ballard says that’s why bears are being seen in areas where they’re not as common…