Another day, another black bear?
It has not been clearly determined whether the bear sightings in Dunwoody, in early May, and Johns Creek, yesterday, deal with plural beasts. But the newest sighting of the barely out-of-the-perimeter black bear or bears was in the Norcross area, according to an email Tuesday from Norcross Police Capt. Bill Grogan.
It was memorialized with a snapshot and video. The bear appears curious about the videographer, who is making a clucking sound while approaching. The bear did not growl or grunt in return.
At least 5,000 bears call Georgia home, typically living in swamps or forested areas, according to the state Department of Natural Resources. It is usually unusual to sight bears in metro Atlanta but that has been getting more common lately.
Dunwoody residents first reported bears this year in their back yards the first week in May. Dunwoody police had hoped that state rangers would subdue any creatures with a tranquilizer and transport them elsewhere.
The state Department of Natural Resources, however, informed them that bears are free roaming critters in Georgia: they have to be bad, apparently, before they can be forcibly moved.
The suburbs can be dangerous for them. They occasionally rely on the interstate or other roads to traverse the territory, leading to fatal encounters with automobiles.
One was killed when it tried to cross a busy road in Cherokee County in April.
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