Mississippi is home to somewhere between 80 and 100 black bears. Biologists have tagged 8 with GPS collars, and they are tracked and monitored regularly. Over the past 2 years the Mississippi Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Parks have received 10 or more calls reporting bear crossings on local highways.

To remedy any possibilities of accidents, Mississippi decided to post bear crossing signs. Fortunately, none of the recent run-ins with bears have resulted in the death of a bear. And the docile nature of the bears have prevented an overwhelming presence of bears on the roads. One of the reasons that bears have ventured out into public is that some of the highways are located near rivers that bears use as watering holes. Also, the bears activity increases during the mating season which can result in bears wandering too far from their natural cover. Click the link to read the full article from The Vicksburg Post.