All creatures GREAT and small….
Director of the SSt. John XXIII Pastoral CenterGerri Wright and her staff stayed a safe distance away to say,”Hello,” to a black bear on the property.
They’ve officially been our state animal since 1973, although surveys of students, teachers, researchers, hunters, etc. conducted by the state in the 1950s, determined the black bear was everyone’s if we’d have a state animal.
According to the WV Dept. of Natural Resources and the WVU Extension Office, WV has about 12,000 black bears living and roaming in all 55 counties, which wildlife experts are pleased about.
Fifty years ago the population was only about 500.
With great care, awareness, and education the state animal is doing well.
AND YES, that means being seen outside of its preferred heavily forested stomping grounds.
