The elusive black bear frightening folks in southern Summit and northern Stark counties this week has turned out to be a Gentle Ben on Twitter.
Akron police received at least four calls Tuesday morning reporting bear sightings. The bear’s local appearance also drew a steady stream of comments on social media.
Someone pretending to be the bear started a Twitter account on Tuesday that is proving to be popular.
@AkronBear came online at about 10 a.m. and by 6 p.m., had more than 700 followers reading tweets about everything from the different colors of fur black bears can have — “brown, cinnamon, blond, blue-gray, or white” — to the bear’s hope of riding the otter slide at the Akron Zoo in the rain.
Who’s behind the account? A not-so-cub reporter at the Akron Beacon Journal who interviewed @AkronBear via Twitter, isn’t saying.
But during the interview @AkronBear said he likes to be called Ursus — short for Ursus Americanus, the proper name for black bear — and predicts the Cavs will take the Raptors in five games.
Ursus said he isn’t here for basketball, however. He’s looking for a mate.
“I heard a rumor about the cuties,” @AkronBear tweeted, “and there are a lot of great parks and connected greenspace in the area.”
Surprise guest
But residents who live in those areas aren’t always happy to see black bears.
Michelle Mesenger got a surprise on her way to pick up her newspaper at the end of her 400-foot-long driveway on Tuesday morning.
A 300-pound black bear was standing 100 yards away off Massillon Road in Southeast Akron near the Akron-Springfield Township border.
The bear, likely a male, began to follow the 53-year-old Akron woman and her two golden retrievers as they retreated toward the house.
She moved her dogs away from the bear before they started barking. They started up the drive as the bear moved toward them and cut through neighboring yards.
The bear got within 100 feet as she ducked into the garage and house with her dogs. It was in the driveway and the front yard.
“It was very scary,” Mesenger said. “It was too close. He looked big to me and I saw him up close.”
Mesenger was not the only one to spot the bear.
The black bear is likely the same bear that was spotted last week in Stark County, said Jamey Emmert of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Division of Wildlife.
“It has been a good, well-behaved bear, wandering about and doing bear things,” she said.
The bear has not caused any problems with humans in Jackson Township, North Canton and Hartville, she said.
It is still fearful of humans, she said, and that’s good.
The bear is likely mature — 2 to 3 years old — and could be looking for a female bear, she said. It’s probably a male based on its size.
The Akron-Canton area more typically gets visits from smaller, younger male bears who have been kicked out of the family group by the mother bear at the age of 18 months, Emmert said.
People have been very good about giving the bear enough space and being respectful of the bear, she said.
Mesenger spotted the bear about 6:20 a.m. Tuesday as it came out of a pine tree. At first, she said she thought what she was seeing was a neighbor’s black dog.
“Then I realized: ‘Holy crap, that’s not a dog,’ ” Mesenger said. “He saw us and started to head our way.”
The state advises homeowners in areas where bears are spotted to secure garbage and to take in bird feeders, Emmert said.
The bear is most likely to be spotted at dawn and dusk. It is likely to sleep during the day.
Ohio has a small but growing population of black bears. The state has between 50 and 100 resident black bears, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
In 2014, Ohio had 135 sightings involving about 88 black bears. In 2013, there were 158 sightings involving 74 bears. There were bear reports from 43 of Ohio’s 88 counties in 2014.
Half of the sightings were from May to July.
Bears, of course, are no joke when they wander through neighborhoods.
But online, @AkronBear ate up the attention Tuesday, re-posting local paparazzi pictures and re-tweeting bear humor:
“Why did God only make one YOGI Bear? Because when he tried to make a second one, he made a Boo-boo!”
“What color socks do bears wear? They don’t wear socks, they have bear feet!”