Interloping Michigan Bear Tickles Twittersphere

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A Michigan black bear trespassing in Indiana — where bears haven’t been reported for almost a century and a half — is the Hoosier state’s newest social media darling.

The bear, which Hoosiers have nicknamed Scruffy, has its own Twitter account, @bearindiana, tweeting last week that Indianapolis Colts Coach “Chuck Pagano will be out of this state before I am. #fakepunt.”

Earlier this month, after the Associated Press reported the bear is likely to hibernate in Indiana and that more bears are likely in the state as populations increase in nearby states, @bearindiana tweeted:

“Scientists still can’t explain why we want to come to Indiana.”

One thing is for sure, the interloping bear has a sense of humor.

“Would anyone really mind if we bears ate people with selfie sticks?” @berindiana tweeted in September. “We’d be doing you all a favor.”

Recently, Scruffy seems consumed with Bigfoot, with speculation that the fabled creature may have been “swallowed up” by the holes on Mount Baldy along the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore that a geologist are the remnants of a ghost forest.

“Take a moment to laugh at those who believe in Bigfoot,” @bearindiana tweeted, followed by:

“Actually, Bigfoot did exist. But several years ago he got swallowed up by Mount Baldy.”

Not a Shy Bear

Scruffy seems out to shatter black bears’ reputation for being shy and elusive creatures that run like scared cats when confronted by humans. He looks into people’s windows, he pounds on their doors and he’s even tried to open open sliding glass windows, The Detroit News reports.

Like a marauding Pooh, Scruffy toppled a half dozen boxes containing bee hives near Pete Livas’ Michigan City farm in July, then carried them 40 feet away into the woods and gorged himself on eight pounds of honey.

The bear has been ambling around Indiana since about June and has been spotted about 55 times. That state’s department of Natural Resources said bears haven’t been reported there in 144 years.

Scruffy, a 2- to 3-year-old bear that towers about 6 feet and weighs between 200 and 250 pounds, probably roamed to Indiana from northern Michigan, where there are anywhere from 15,000 to 19,000 bears. About 90 percent of them live on the Upper Peninsula, though.

Indiana residents seem to be heaping a cartoonish kind of love on Scruffy.

After Scruffy knocked off over his garbage cans, Tyler Long of Michigan City, told the newspaper: “You kind of want to go off and play with him.”

Uhm, no, unless you want to become a bear chew toy, DNR officials warn, according to nwi.com.

“Don’t run from a bear,” Megan Dillon, a wildlife biologist from the Indiana DNR said at a meeting earlier this month to school residents in keeping the increasingly friendly bear at bay. “That’s the worst thing you can do.”

Instead, an encounter with Scruffy or any other bear should be met with raised arms, shouting or the clanging of pots or some other item to scare them away.

And, of course, residents got the standard “don’t feed the bears” warning.

Clever Bear Avoids Traps

The clever bear has thus far avoided attempts by Indiana officials to trap him. They came close when they tried to snare him in a trap baited with bacon, sardines, honey and marshmallows. Scruffy ate the goodies, but the trap failed to close.

After filling up on the snacks, the bear reportedly lay atop an 8-foot pile of woodchips and took a snooze.

For a time, it appeared Scruffy had gone back to his home range in Michigan. But earlier this month, Livas reported the bear was back snooping around for honeycomb on his farm.

‘’He definitely remembered the honey,’’ Livas told nwi.com.

» Stock photo via Michigan Department of Natural Resources