Bear Sighting in Sauk Rapids [INFOGRAPHIC]
As reported by our brother radio station WJON AM 1240, Sauk Rapids Police were called to the 1700 block of Summit Avenue North for a bear sighting. SR Police Chief Beise told WJON;
"...it was sitting next to a bird feeder in the 1700 block of Summit Avenue North at about 2:00 p.m, and that it’s not uncommon for bears to be spotted in that part of town."
NOT UNCOMMON FOR BEARS TO BE SPOTTED IN THAT PART OF TOWN?!
Take a look at the info graphic below and you tell me if this location would be a place you would 'commonly' see bears...
Have I missed something here? Did the Sauk Rapids City Council pass an ordinance allowing bears to purchase homes on cul-de-sacs? Is there a giant honey bee farm just off Highway 10 I haven't heard about? Or maybe the cops have mistaken this real bear for the one mob-connected Berenstain Bear living in Central Minnesota under the Witness Protection Program.
I demand more information on this 'common occurrence'! I don't know about you, but just allowing bears to move into any neighborhood is a bad idea. Historically, when bears have been allowed to venture to any residential area, home prices go down, children go missing and it's impossible to eat a bagel with honey on it without one coming to your door and asking for a bite.
I think it's prudent that we set up some sort of alert system to inform the neighborhood when a bear family plans to move in. Possibly a community meeting and monitoring system, like a website, where we can punch in our address and find out how many bears are living in a ten block area of our homes. I also believe it to be prudent for the DNR to distribute flyers door-to-door when a sleuth of bears buys property within a mile of our homes.