More Black Bear Sightings Reported In McHenry County

RICHMOND, IL — Weeks after reports of black bear sightings surfaced across the northern suburbs, residents living in the Richmond area say they've noticed a bear making its rounds.

According to Shaw Media, a resident reported a black bear in a yard off Hill Road on a Richmond Facebook group. A spokesperson for the village of Richmond told Shaw Media it has not received any official bear sighting reports but has heard that residents living in the unincorporated portions of Richmond have seen a bear.

Last month, residents near Antioch and Gurnee reported sightings of a bear. In Gurnee, the bear was spotted running across the parking lot of a daycare near Gurnee Mills, and days later, residents near Antioch called officials to report a bear was wandering on to decks and had damaged deck furniture.

"Wildlife biologists believe the Antioch bear is likely the same bear that was seen in Gurnee last week,"Jayette Bolinski, director of communications for the IDNR, told Patch last month. It's unclear at this point if the bear reported near Richmond is also the same bear.

The IDNR is recommending people who live in the vicinity of a confirmed bear sighting "secure their garbage cans and barbecue grills indoors and stop feeding birds for a few days," Bolinski said.

Authorities offer these tips for anyone who may encounter the bear:

• Do not run
• Do not surprise the bear
• Make noise to ensure that the bear is aware of your presence
• Respect the bear’s space, and do not approach the animal
• If the bear sees you, stand your ground; look as large as possible by standing up straight and putting your arms up in the air and slowly back away
• If possible, go inside a building or get into a vehicle
• Black bears display two types of behavior—defensive and offensive
• A bear may swat at the ground or surrounding vegetation, lunge toward you, vocalize, blow air out of its mouth, or pop its jaws
• These defensive behaviors are used to warn you to move away
• Slowly back away from the bear
• With offensive behavior, the bear will move towards you quickly
• If you have food with you, drop the food, and keep moving away from the bear
• If a black bear makes contact with you, always try to fight it off
• Do not play dead

Black bears, once common in Illinois, were eliminated from the state by 1870, and there is currently no resident population of bears. But the potential exists for bears from existing populations in Missouri and Wisconsin to travel into the state.

Black bears have been protected by the Illinois Wildlife Code since 2015 and cannot be hunted, killed or harassed unless there is an imminent threat to person or property.

MORE ON PATCH

• Police: Bear Damages Deck Furniture, Is 'Likely Hungry'
• IDNR: Bear Spotted In Gurnee Likely Same Bear Seen Near Antioch