But he was unprepared for the overwhelming response a video someone sent the department received when he posted it Wednesday afternoon.
The video is of a rather large black bear scampering around the townhouses along Village Parkway in Circle Pines. The anonymous videographer shot the video on Monday.
“This is not a common occurrence,” said Lt. Blanck. “We have not had many interactions with bears in this jurisdiction in my 23 years here. We respond to all kinds of animal calls. In the last few years, we’ve had coyotes, a snake, the bears. We’ve had some possible wolf sightings that are usually coyote sightings.”
This still from a video submitted to Centennial Lakes police shows a black bear meandering around Circle Pines earlier this week.
So, Blanck has had to educate himself about bears, using mostly information gleaned from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
“You need to tolerate (bears),” Blanck said. “You need to give it some space, let it do what it wants to do. Go back into your house, don’t let your dog interact with it, and the bear will likely wander off.” Blanck also recommends homeowners eliminate convenient food sources for bears like bird feeders, grills, and trash cans. He said the DNR recommends placing those items indoors as often as possible so bears don’t identify homes or yards as easy, reliable food sources.
“We have to give it some room and be wary of it,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy it and marvel at it, but don’t overstep your bounds.”
