LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Biologists with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) celebrated a recent rescue operation involving a bear – and issued reminders about bear-baiting regulations.

State wildlife biologists in Montmorency County removed a blue, plastic lid from the neck of a young black bear. He first appeared on trail camera photos in 2023. Biologists tracked the elusive cub-turned-grown-up for two years.

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Last month, a Hillman resident alerted the DNR after seeing the bear in trail camera photos on his property. Biologists captured the 110-pound bear on June 2, gave him anesthesia, and remove the lid from his neck. They also collected body measurements and other data. Biologists released the bear back on the property once he woke up.

DNR officials said baiting is a legal method for hunting bears on private land only. Those containers may only have holes that are either 1 inch or less in diameter or 22 inches or greater in diameter. The DNR’s Cody Norton pointed to cases in Florida, Wisconsin, and Tennessee in which bears got their heads stuck in food containers.

“Landowners can do their part by recycling or crushing containers such as empty cheeseball tubs and being ‘BearWise’ about securing garbage,”  said Cody Norton . “It’s important to remember that the opening diameter is more important than the size of the container.”

Michigan is home to about 13,000 black bears. Click here to learn more about living with black bears and minimizing bear encounters.