A bear in Michigan finally got a blue plastic lid taken off his neck after two years.
Young Black Bear Gets Large Plastic Lid Removed From Around Its Neck After 2 Years
A young black bear in Michigan has FINALLY had a plastic lid removed from around its neck after two years.
The animal was first spotted "wearing" the lid back in 2023 when he was still a cub, then was periodically seen in trail camera photos after that, but he wasn't able to be liberated from his deeply uncomfortable necklace until June of this year.
Biologists from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources stepped in to help when the bear in question was spotted by a local resident that month.
The bear was known to have had the lid stuck around his neck for two years.
A press release from the DNR explained that the cub had gotten his neck stuck in a five-inch hole in the blue plastic lid, though they don't know exactly how it happened.
Experts also don't know where the lid came from but it could belong to one of the two following categories: either a lid for a bear-baiting container, or for something along the lines of a chicken feed container.
If it's the former, it would actually be illegal in the state of Michigan, because bear-baiting containers must only have holes of less than one inch in diameter OR of 22 inches or greater.
The bear's neck had been stuck in a plastic lid for two years.
As it was, the hole in the lid was dangerous to bears and other wildlife — as was more than proven in this case given the young bear's two-year-long predicament.
"Container openings of a certain size can result in bears and other wildlife getting their heads or other body parts stuck in them, leading to injury or death," said Cody Norton, a bear specialist at the DNR. "It’s important to remember that the opening diameter is more important than the size of the container."
The lid caused wounds to the bear's neck.
Once the bear was spotted in the spring, state biologists successfully set up a trap to bait him. They then anesthetized him before cutting off the lid and collecting data on him for reference.
Tragically, the lid had caused significant scarring and an abscess on the bear's neck; however, he was found to be in good health aside from that.
After the anesthesia wore off, the bear was safely released.
After the lid was cut off his neck, the young black bear was released into the wild.
Bears are common in Michigan, with an estimated 19,000 adult bears and cubs living in the state, according to The Detroit News.
If you live in the area or are visiting, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with the DNR's guidelines for co-existing safely with bears, which you can find in this online PDF information pack.