Do Not Feed the Bears

SAFETY FIRST — Students are urged to exercise caution when using the trail systems as a black bear has been spotted. No injuries or deaths have been reported. Photo Credit: Scott Hill.

Bear tracks were spotted on the Liberty trail system, police said. The tracks were spotted Oct. 18 below the LU monogram near Route 460 East and the Lower Dam trail, according to Col. Richard Hinkley, chief of police. Hinkley said he is not aware of any reports of actual bear sightings, however, according to the announcement, “Information has been provided that there is a bear and cub(s) on the trail system.”

“There are no definite rules about what to do if you meet a bear,” Hinkley said. “In almost all cases, the bear will detect you first and leave the area. Unprovoked bear attacks are very rare and have never been documented in Virginia.”

Black bears are “becoming an increasingly common sight across the Commonwealth,” according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF).

Although the tracks were found, they have not altered one student’s hiking plans.

“My first thought was, ‘Okay, I should probably get some bear mace for when we hike up there tomorrow,’” sophomore Sarah Warner said. “The only way it affected our plans was that we decided to take the precaution of carrying bear mace instead of going without it.”

Bear tracks were spotted on the Liberty trail system, police said. The tracks were spotted Oct. 18 below the LU monogram near Route 460 East and the Lower Dam trail, according to Col. Richard Hinkley, chief of police. Hinkley said he is not aware of any reports of actual bear sightings, however, according to the announcement, “Information has been provided that there is a bear and cub(s) on the trail system.”

“There are no definite rules about what to do if you meet a bear,” Hinkley said. “In almost all cases, the bear will detect you first and leave the area. Unprovoked bear attacks are very rare and have never been documented in Virginia.”

Black bears are “becoming an increasingly common sight across the Commonwealth,” according to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (DGIF).

Although the tracks were found, they have not altered one student’s hiking plans.

“My first thought was, ‘Okay, I should probably get some bear mace for when we hike up there tomorrow,’” sophomore Sarah Warner said. “The only way it affected our plans was that we decided to take the precaution of carrying bear mace instead of going without it.”

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