Black bears are cute, but you should leave them alone

Officials with the TWRA explain why they hope you’ll leave the black bear alone if you find it wandering your neighborhood these days.

They say late spring and early summer is when young bears leave their mothers and start looking for new ranges.

That means they are looking for easy sources of food.

As long as you secure your garbage, pet food and bird seed, the bear should move on.

The usual range for black bears covers East Tennessee and the Cumberland Plateau.

But they could wander further out at this time of year.