Elusive black bear spotted once more in Bureau County

GateHouse News Service
NEPONSET - Bureau County's elusive black bear has surfaced once again, and this time someone got pictures. Sightings of a black bear were first reported in June near Sheffield. Then, on Sept. 5, Ron Miller of rural Neponset saw the bear along Kentville Road. On Dec. 27, as snow cover rapidly melted from rising temperatures and rain fell in the area, the bear was spotted about 2 miles east of Neponset, in southwestern Bureau County, on the Robert Bennett farm by his brother, Lee Bennett, who was taking a ride on his four-wheeler in a field near the house. After spotting the bear, which had gone to cover in underbrush, Bennett's nephew, Tim Bennett of Kewanee, arrived and began to "shadow" the large animal, which became wary of the human presence and left the ravine. Tim and his cousin Matt Bennett shot photos of the animal as it lumbered across a field and across a creek swollen from the heavy rain and melting snow. "We got within 20 yards of the bear," Tim said. The sighting on the Bennett farm was about 3 miles from where Miller spotted it in September. In June, the bear was seen in the Mautino State Fish & Wildlife Area, south of Sheffield, on the west edge of Sheffield near the railroad tacks, and near a landscape waste dumpsite on the west side of Sheffield. Bennett said he has heard of several other sightings in the area, including one recently by a trucker near the Macon Township maintenance shed on state Route 40 south of Buda. The Bureau County Sheriff's Office has said it would like any sightings of the black bear to be reported. Ultimately, authorities want to tranquilize the bear and relocate it to a more suitable habitat.