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Officials in Warren County are investigating reports of black bear sightings.
Two calls were made to 911 on Tuesday about a small black bear.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife (ODNR) has received reports of sightings in Warren, Highland, Clinton, Adams and Brown counties over the last three weeks.
They say it's probably the same bear.
Chad Tackett, of Waynesville, got part of the bear's visit to Wayne Township on tape.
His parents were running an errand around 7 p.m. Tuesday when they spotted it at Lower Springboro and Township Line roads. Tackett posted the video video of the bear on YouTube.com
Five hours later, 18-year-old James Sheltrown pulled up in the driveway of his Clearcreek Township home on Center Spring Avenue to see the bear at the treeline behind the house.
Sheltrown says the bear had gotten into his family's garbage cans and dragged the garbage to the wooded area.
"It was rummaging through the trash back there, just minding its own business not getting in anybody's' way," said Sheltrown.
Sheltrown didn't want to get out of the car. So he called his mom who was inside.
"He goes, ‘I think there's a bear in the woods,’ and I said, ‘Oh my gosh! There is a bear in the woods,’" explained Diane Sheltrown.
"I never had seen a bear except for in the zoo, so I didn't know what to do," she said.
People who have seen the bear say it's taller than five-feet when it stands on its back legs and it looks like it weighs more than 150 pounds.
The black bear is endangered in Ohio so you can't shoot it or hunt it.
Wildlife officials say the black bear eats mostly fruits, nuts, insects and roadkill. They say you don't have to worry about it going after your dog.
