![\"Black](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/4H5YZGGACBEBVBG7L7CIX56NAY.jpg\")
Black bear sightings in the Stoughton area caught on camera.(WMTV)<\/p>\nSTOUGHTON, Wis. (WMTV) – Multiple people have reported sightings of a black bear roaming around the Stoughton area this week.<\/p>\n
Stoughton resident Maureen McNeely captured the backyard bandit on camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it was just that initial shock of like we actually caught something! Like oh my gosh,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
After experiencing issues with their bird feeders being tipped over and the bird seed completely gone, they thought racoons were the culprits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve spent a lot of money trying to invest in better feeders, raccoon baffles,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Black bear sightings in the Stoughton area caught on camera.(WMTV)<\/p>\n
The lonesome black bear knocked over their bird feeders and tore open locked storage bins containing bird seed, even leaving behind bite marks on the bin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually climbed back in to finish cleaning up its mess from the night before,\u201d McNeely laughed.<\/p>\n
McNeely says others in the Stoughton and Town of Pleasant Springs area have also reported sightings of the black bear on social media.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout a mile up the road this way, another mile or two down that way and then over by Coachman\u2019s golf course and so I did the map radar and we are kind of in the middle of that triangle,\u201d McNeely said.<\/p>\n
Living in Stoughton since 2013, McNeely says they\u2019ve never seen a black bear.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve even seen or heard of sightings of a mountain lion out in this area, but not a black bear. I would never have suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her 12-year-old daughter Morgan Smith says she believes she saw the bear with her own eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used my flashlight and looked out the window since it was dark and I\u2019m like \u2018Is that a bear?!\u2019 I kind of came running back to my mom and dad kind of really freaked out because like \u2018oh my gosh that looks so big,\u2019\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
The Wisconsin DNR says it has been following reports of black bears in the southeast part of the state closely as of late, including a warden reporting a black bear on his doorbell camera around Pleasant Springs.<\/p>\n
\u201cBears are normally rare in this part of the state, but we do get individuals that travel through urban areas looking for an easy snack,\u201d Kevin Brown, Assistant Bear and Cougar Specialist with the Wisconsin DNR told WMTV 15 News.<\/p>\n
Brown says those bears are most likely \u201cyoung, inexperienced dispersing males.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Wisconsin DNR partners with a program called \u2018BearWise\u2019 to help with educational outreach to help avoid bear-human conflict.<\/p>\n
The six BearWise basics include:<\/p>\n
More information can be found at\u00a0BearWise.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n