How to avoid human-bear conflict
• Place garbage cans at the curb on the day of pick-up rather than the night before, as bears are attracted to garbage
• Rinse food cans and wrappers before disposal. Keep garbage cans clean and deodorize them periodically
• Bring pet food indoors and remove birdfeeders during spring and late summer, as they provide another attraction for bears
(Source: Georgia Department of Natural Resources)
CUMMING -- A black bear was reportedly seen in the Pilgrim Mill Circle area on Lake Lanier in Cumming on Friday, per a social media post by a county resident.
Teresa Grauss originally posted a photo on the Habersham at Lanier social networking site of what appears to be a black bear on the shores of the lake, which another resident, Michelle Elliott Fontaine, reposted on a community Facebook group.
Other Forsyth residents who commented on the post said they, too, have recently seen a bear in the area.
Fontaine told the Forsyth County News Grauss has several other photos of what looks like the same bear from previous dates.
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources says on its website while black bears are typically found in the North Georgia mountains, along the Ocmulgee River drainage system in the central part of the state and in the Okefenokee Swamp in the southeast, the animals can “range over larger areas in search of food.”
They typically live in swampy and forested areas, and the DNR said “there are no recorded bear attacks on humans in Georgia, and no fatalities.
There have only been two documented fatal black bear attacks in the Southeastern United States.”