Hickory Woman Spots Bear In Back Yard

HICKORY, N.C.,None — A Hickory family got an unexpected visitor in its yard on Sunday: a 200-pound black bear.

Jodi Starkey, who lives in the Kool Park neighborhood behind St. Stephens High School, said she saw the bear near the shed in her back yard.

Starkey said she was walking near her home when a couple approached her and told her there was a bear in her yard. She said she ran to her porch, through her house and into the back yard.

"[I] didn't actually believe the couple who had stopped to tell me about the black bear," Starkey said. "I thought they were seeing things."

She said the bear spotted her, too, and ran across the street and into a wooded area. She managed to get a picture before it disappeared.

"I got one blurry shot," Starkey said. "He looked to be around 200 pounds or so and was definitely not a cub, nor a full grown adult."

Starkey said this wasn't the first time she's seen a bear, but it is the first one she has encountered in Hickory.

According to the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, bears are active in the spring and early summer. This is the fourth straight year one has been spotted in Hickory.

WSOC