LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Experts say that the bear population has recently increased in Michigan’s lower peninsula, leading to a similar rise in close encounters—including those here in mid-Michigan.
Last Sunday, on Ruess Rd in Owosso, a road she drives on almost every day, Emalee Harmon saw something she never expected.
“We were absolutely shocked,” said Harmon. “We were just kinda speechless and couldn’t get over the fact that we just saw a bear.”
She was on her way back from getting ice cream with her family when she and her husband noticed a bear. They pulled over and took photos.
“We had never seen a bear in the wild, and we knew that it was not normal to see them this far in the south,” said Harmon.
Just a few days later, another bear was spotted in Bath Township. Ron Jackson posted a photo of the bear on Facebook .
While it is unlikely, seeing a bear in mid-Michigan is not as rare as you might think. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, there are around 12,000 bears in the state: 10,000 in the Upper Peninsula and 2000 in the northern Lower Peninsula.