Bears, coyotes, wolves, and cougars: the encounter page

This page exists to lower heart rates, not raise them. Report notable sightings — with photos if you can — through the DNR’s Eyes in the Field.

Black bears

Michigan has more than 10,000, and they want your bird seed and garbage, not you. The whole playbook is attractant management: feeders down in season (roughly April–November in bear country), trash in at night, grills cleaned, pet food inside. Meet one anyway? Stand tall, talk firmly, back away slowly — never run, and never play dead with a black bear; in the vanishingly rare event of an actual attack, fight back. A bear that keeps visiting is a phone call to your local DNR office, not a social-media post.

Coyotes

In every Michigan county, Detroit included — not a crisis, a fact. Keep cats in and small dogs leashed at dawn and dusk, never feed (directly or via the trash), and haze boldly: yell, wave your arms, air horn, throw something nearby. Hazing keeps coyotes wary, and wary coyotes are good neighbors. A coyote doing or about to do damage on your property may be taken without a license — the full rules live on our furbearer page.

Wolves

U.P. only (the rare dispersing stray aside), federally protected — no removal except in defense of human life. Livestock conflicts run through the DNR and USDA Wildlife Services, with compensation programs. A canid sighting below the bridge is worth an Eyes in the Field report with photos; most turn out to be coyotes, and the DNR follows up on the ones that don’t.

Cougars

Yes — occasionally, and verifiably. The DNR has confirmed dozens of cougar sightings over the years, essentially all in the U.P., understood to be dispersing western males — plus, recently, the first verified cubs of the modern era. They’re protected; report sightings with photos through Eyes in the Field. The porch truth: you are in statistically more danger from the deer crossing M-37 at dusk than from every cougar in Michigan combined.

Moose

A few hundred in the U.P., protected, never huntable. Give them comic-book distance — a cow with a calf is pound-for-pound the most dangerous animal in the state, and a moose in the road at night is the U.P.’s most serious driving hazard.

The official sources

Sightings and concerns: Eyes in the Field online, or your local DNR office for repeat visitors. Start with the wildlife rules pillar.