{"id":795514,"date":"2026-05-14T09:27:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/795514\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T09:27:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:27:14","slug":"black-bear-spotted-on-security-cameras-in-downriver-communities-stuns-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/795514\/","title":{"rendered":"Black bear spotted on security cameras in Downriver communities stuns residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOWNRIVER, Mich.<\/strong> \u2013 The sight of a black bear on a security camera early Monday morning has become the talk of the town, Downriver.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the only bear we\u2019ve seen in Flat Rock, at least in my lifetime,\u201d Flat Rock Mayor Steve Beller said. \u201cI received an email from our city administrator. So, we looked at the videos and, wow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bear was first spotted in Carleton just after 1 a.m. on Monday (May 11)<\/b><\/a>. <\/p>\n

It was caught on surveillance camera before wandering into the Flat Rock-Rockwood area, where it was spotted again a few hours later.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, you think it\u2019s A.I.,\u201d Nick Hill, Rockwood\u2019s Police Chief, said. \u201cBut after reviewing the video, it was pretty clear that it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time, and that I know of, that I talked to the officers here that we\u2019ve ever been called about a bear,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all anyone is talking about down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The DNR says it could be the southernmost bear sighting ever in Southeast Michigan.<\/p>\n

This is quite a welcome for Rockwood\u2019s new police chief, Nick Hill.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time, and that I know of, that I talked to the officers here that we\u2019ve ever been called about a bear that\u2019s been seen in the neighborhoods.\u201d<\/p>\n

We went out and about in Rockwood and Flat Rock, hoping the drone might catch a glimpse of the bear. But we had no luck.<\/p>\n

For those of you wondering, the black bear is the only bear species found in Michigan, mostly in the Upper Peninsula. <\/p>\n

They tend to be solitary animals who often wander in search of food and run at the first sign of trouble.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice having the bears around,\u201d Monte Oswald, who runs Oswald\u2019s Bear Ranch in Newberry, said. <\/p>\n

The ranch was started by his father, Dean Oswald, back in 1984, and it allows people to feed the bears in a safe environment and even take pictures with cubs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have 240 acres at Oswald\u2019s Bear Ranch,\u201d Dean said. \u201cThe bears are able to roam around in their habitats, and people can see them where they have swim locations, and they climb the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dean said that if people were to come across a bear, either in the wild or in their backyard, they have to remain calm. <\/p>\n

Often, the bear is more afraid of you.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main thing to remember is don\u2019t run away, because that would kick in the bears\u2019 instinct to chase,\u201d Dean said. \u201cRaise your arms and look large, but be as calm as you can be, let them know that you know that you\u2019re not afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the bear sighting is serious business, downriver residents are also having a lot of fun with it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have our local heating and cooling company that has a bear mascot,\u201d Beller said. \u201cI saw where they had a picture of him in the woods, saying they found the bear.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has been notified and is monitoring the situation.<\/p>\n

Residents are urged to secure garbage cans and keep pets inside or under close supervision. <\/p>\n

Anyone who spots the bear is asked to stay indoors and contact the DNR at 800-292-7800<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DOWNRIVER, Mich. \u2013 The sight of a black bear on a security camera early Monday morning has become…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":795515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[324628,159,67,132,68,28887,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-795514","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-downriver","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us","13":"tag-wayne-county","14":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=795514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/795514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/795515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=795514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=795514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=795514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}