Black bear spotted west of Rugby
When Rugby’s Adam Canfield was headed to Minot along U.S. Highway 2 on Sunday morning, June 6, something caught his eye trudging across the road about eight miles west of Rugby.
“At first I thought it was a black lab, but when I came closer I knew it was bigger than that,’ Canfield said.
He was right.
It was a black bear and Canfield quickly pulled over to get a better look. He snapped a few photos as the animal walked through a field on the north side of the highway.
It appeared to be a pretty good size bear, possibly 200 pounds, Canfield estimated.
Black bears typically don’t venture this far south, according to Randy Knain, N.D. Game and Fish warden.
“We get a report of one every so often,’ he said. “They more than likely wander down from Canada or come over from northern Minnesota.”
Knain said this particular bear was probably a young one that was chased out of an area from larger ones. They also may come south due to forest fires in Canada.