A black bear at a bird feeder on Lullaby Lane in Solway on Sunday night. (Photos courtesy Kayla Boone)
In addition to the black bear in Oak Ridge on Monday, there was also a bear in Solway on Sunday night. It’s not clear if it was the same bear.
The bear in Solway on Sunday was seen on Lullaby Lane, including at a bird feeder at about 7 p.m.
There were many sightings of a bear in the Woodland neighborhood on Monday. It was at The Manhattan Apartments on Rutgers Avenue at about 10:30 a.m. Monday.
A black bear eats bird food at a home on Lullaby Lane in Solway on Sunday night.
It was the first report of a bear in Oak Ridge this year, although there have been several sightings in Knoxville and one bear scaled a 10-foot fence to get into the Knoxville Zoo.
There were several reports of bears in Oak Ridge in May and June last year, and at least two were trapped, one on East Drive and the other at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. There were also reports of bears crossing through Woodland one year ago, a mother and cub spotted west of the Y-12 National Security Complex, and a bear reported in yards on Orchard Circle and Oglethorpe Place.
Last year, Jason Lankford, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wildlife officer, said bear sightings are normal this time of year as young male bears try to establish new territory after older bears push them out of preserves like Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Sometimes the young bears get trapped in cities.
Lankford was not available for comment Monday.
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