Recent Black Bear Sightings in the Shoals Area

A Shoals resident hit "something huge" while traveling down highway 43 in Lauderdale County a few nights ago. According to his wife, it left "black fuzzy hair" on his truck, but no blood. It happened approximately one mile north of Brush Creek Road in the Killen area. According to the resident, the game warden told them it was a black bear and most likely survived. That's not the only recent black bear sighting in the Shoals!

Black bear on trail cam supposedly in St. Florian areaPhoto byPosted to public Facebook group, What's Happening Shoals

Recently, several Shoals residents have reported seeing one or more black bears in the area. The photo above is a trail cam photo that was supposedly captured in the St. Florian area. All of these reports were posted in the public Facebook group, What's Happening Shoals, run by Jeff Roland for Shoals Insider.

As news of the black bear incident on Hwy 43 spread on social media, several more people posted about their own black bear sightings in the Shoals. Apparently, a black bear was spotted by several residents in Kendale Gardens recently. Residents of Waynesboro and Iron City also reported several sightings over the past two years. Just last October, we reported several sightings near Russelville (read the Newsbreak article here).

Black bearPhoto byBruce WarringtononUnsplash

Although some people may be fearful of seeing this new wildlife in the Shoals, black bears are not considered a danger if left alone. According to bear.org, "Men ages 18-24 are 167 times more likely to kill someone than a black bear. Most attacks by black bears are defensive reactions to a person who is too close. Out of the 750,000 black bears of North America, they attack or kill less than one person per year on the average."

Another reminder: in Alabama, black bears are considered “State Protected”. This means "it is illegal to take, capture, kill, or attempt to take them without a permit" according to Alabama state law. Take a photo of the bear, but don't try to shoot or kill them just because you see one. With more and more loss of their natural habitat, we're probably going to see more black bears in the Shoals in the future.

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