UNDATED (KDAL) – The Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources are out with guidelines to avoid conflicts with black bears.
Last week a woman near Nisswa was injured when a bear took a swipe at her while outside with her dog.
Black bears are rarely aggressive and in this case it was likely startled by the dog and swatted at the woman to defend itself.
Since 1987, there have been only ten injuries involving human, bear interactions and no deaths.
Most of the encounters involved dogs or food sources such as trash or birdseed.
Bears that become comfortable living near people become more unpredictable when faced with a stressful situation.
To avoid attracting bears, residents should store trash in bear proof containers, keep grills clean, feed dogs indoors and remove other outdoor food sources such as bird feeders.
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