HASTINGS, Minn. — Editor's note: The video above is from a different bear sighting that took place in Rogers on May 22.
Sometimes, you just have to mix in a nap.
That must have been the case with a bear in Hastings Tuesday who wandered into a neighborhood in the vicinity of Highway 55 and Maple Street, climbed a tree and promptly fell asleep.
Hastings police posted about the incident on the city's website, informing residents about the bear's presence and warning them to not approach, feed or bother the creature.
Chief Dave Wilske told KARE 11 that once the department was informed of a bear sighting officers located him in the tree and kept an eye on the critter as he/she slept most of the day. At nightfall, Chief Wilske says, the bear climbed down on its own and "went on his merry way."
As of Wednesday morning police had received no more bear reports.
Last weekend a wandering bear made multiple appearances in and around the city of Rogers, including a stroll through the Denny's parking lot not far from I-94 and Highway 101.
DNR Bear Project leader Andrew Tri told KARE 11 after the Rogers sightings that bears love greenspace and wandering along rivers or streams, both of which Hastings has.
"It’s probable that (the bear) was meandering along one of the rivers or and wandered up into town," Tri explained about the Rogers situation, which would also apply to yesterday's incident in Hastings. "Likely scenario would be a solo male, dispersing from the place it was born and looking for its own home range. Another possible scenario would be looking for a mate (breeding season is starting up soon).
The DNR has a special bear sighting map on its website, where residents can enter locations where they've spotted a bear. Tri says based on a recent handful of sightings near Rogers it may be the same creature spotted heading southwest along the Crow River, along the Wright/Hennepin County border and toward Rockford and Delano.
More common in the forested northern and central parts of Minnesota, black bears have been known to wander into cities and towns closer to the Twin Cities metro.
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