Black bear spotted in western KY

LYON COUNTY, Ky. (KBSI) – In Lyon County, no tigers, but there is a bear — oh my!

The furry guy is making his way closer and closer to us.

People aren’t the only ones taking a vacation. Black bears are making their way toward the Midwest more as they travel to Kentucky.

Robin Floyd ,the First District commissioner for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, says he started hearing about bears showing up locally recently.

“First started hearing about black bears visiting Kentucky about a few weeks back and we’ve heard about one possibly two over those several weeks,” said Floyd. “The last sighting that we’ve heard about was earlier this week in Hopkins County.”

Floyd explains why the male black bear started traveling west.

“A unique part of black bear biology frequently happens adolescent male bears will do a little walkabout,” he said. “They take a vacation. The black bear is native to Kentucky, but almost all of their habitat natural habitat is in eastern Kentucky and these just took a vacation and walked down to western Kentucky.”

Black bears have been spotted in people’s yards. Floyd gives tips on what to do if you spot a black bear in your yard.

“If you see a bear in your yard, you just go in your house,” he said. “You can contact me or you can contact your local warden and they’ll probably pay you a visit just to make sure everything’s OK. Obviously, the bears have to eat so they’re going to be snacking on berries, fruits, apple trees, whatever they can find along the way, but they’re not going to aggressively attack anybody. They’re not big. They’re just small, so they’re just gonna be making their way through the countryside.”