“I have a trailer outside of cook Forest State Park on Rte 36. My parents came out of the trailer and there was the bear in the yard near the lamp post which is less than 25 ft away from the porch. He just stood there are stared at them. I then was called and grabbed my camera taken off into the woods with the bear. The bear was about a 1 1/2 yr old and weighed about 120-125 pounds. It never growled or made any noises.

I was about 20 ft away on Thursday May 24, 2007 in the woods. I just spoke to him in a calm voice and took pictures. He left after about an hour or so. My mom was in the trailer calling everybody and my dad would not let let me be alone. he had an axe just in case it would come after me.

Little did we know after he left on Thursday that he would be back on Friday morning. I took additional pictures and we had neighbors in and they came down to see the bear also. I took additional pictures and was able to get to about 10 ft close this time. After a while the bear spotted me and stood his ground and stared. I moved back slowly away continuing to face the bear and speaking softly to him. He laid back down and continued to eat woodland food. He was there for about an hour to an hour and half.

He returned later that night and stayed, it was too dark to go near him and I was glad that he did not return. I would have needed to call someone had he returned on Saturday. He never damaged any property, just hung out and ate.”