The Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency obtains more phone calls about bear activity in the spring than any other time during the year. Black bear sightings in the spring time are a normal occurrence because grown cubs are leaving their mothers and trying to find territory of their own.

Since these bears do not know where they are going, it is common to find them lost in suburban areas. The TWRA encourages us to not feed the bears. When a bear easily obtains food it will not forget that.

Some tips from the TWRA to living with bears is to never follow a bear; do not feed them; remove bird feeders, grill, pet food, trash, and grills from your yard; and if you see a bear in your yard try to appear big and make a lot of noise, slowly backing away.

Last year there were numerous bear sightings in Middle Tennessee.