Millstadt-area resident finds black bear in her yard. What to do if you see one
It’s not uncommon for Teresa Seavey’s camera at her Millstadt-area home to alert her to animals on her property, but she usually checks the live feed to find a raccoon, fox or even a bird. Her visitor the evening of May 19, however, was a 3-year-old black bear.
“You kind of become panicked, even inside,” Seavey said in a May 23 interview with the News-Democrat.
The property has beehives, as well as a flock of chickens, so she was concerned the bear might get into them. The bear did dump one of the beehives, but did not harm the chickens.
Seavey drove around to see if she could find where the bear went, but it was a stormy evening and she wasn’t able to find him. She reported the sighting to officials with St. Clair County, and she said she thinks they called the Illinois State Police, who ultimately contacted the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Officials did come out to the property to investigate.
The bear stuck around Seavey’s home, and she spotted him again the morning of May 20, curled up in a ball underneath one of the trees in her backyard. He then got up, stretched, yawned and walked down her driveway headed across her front yard.
“I was like, ‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me,’” Seavey said.
Seavey said she called St. Clair County officials again, but there was no need to call emergency services as the bear hadn’t bothered anyone, and she kept her distance.
“I didn’t mess with him, I just let him do his bear stuff,” Seavey said.
The bear did head back toward Seavey’s beehives though, so she yelled out the window for him to go away and he headed off toward a treeline. The following morning, her beehive was dumped again.
Seavey posted about the bear on Facebook with the intention of letting her neighbors know so they could take appropriate precautions, and she received a much larger online response than she was expecting. Seavey said other people started sharing her videos as well as admonishing her for indicating where the bear was, although the IDNR reports the bear has had no interactions with humans.
Seavey spoke with a wildlife biologist who came out to her property and told her the bear was probably about 3 years old and had likely been pushed out by his mom to find his own territory. Black bears are found in Kentucky, Missouri and other states, and Seavey said the wildlife biologist was able to find a hair sample from the bear that will indicate where the bear came from.
The IDNR reported in a Friday press release the bear was last observed Thursday in St. Clair County and residents can expect occasional summer movements of bears into Illinois.
“Through learned behavior, bears often investigate anything that may yield a food reward, such as bird feeders, barbeque grills, garbage cans, and dog food. Once a bear finds a food source, they will likely return, so prevention is key,” IDNR officials said in the press release.
While bears have now been spotted in Illinois for four of the last five years, it could take years or decades for a significant population to become established, the BND previously reported. IDNR described bear sightings in Illinois in summertime as “rare but not unprecedented.”
What to do if you see a bear in the metro-east
The presence of a bear should not necessarily be perceived as a threat to human safety, IDNR officials said in the press release, but it is important to give them sufficient space and leave them alone.
IDNR recommends residents use the following best practices around bears:
“Never feed or approach bears.
Secure food, garbage, and recycling.
Remove or limit use of bird feeders when bears are active.
Avoid leaving pet food outdoors.
Thoroughly clean and store grills and smokers after each use.
Alert neighbors to bear activity.”
If you continue to encounter a bear after cleaning up potential food sources, officials recommend you contact IDNR large carnivore program manager Chris Jacques at chris.jacques@illinois.gov or an IDNR district wildlife biologist for advice.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 11:23 AM.
