"Sweet Home"(Alabama) is in the process of a Black Bear recovery, with the northeastern part of the state seeing young, migrating Bears from Tennessee and Georgia who are looking for homes of their own....The state has also harbored a long standing but small population of Black Bears in the Mobile Delta section of the state.

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=http://www.al.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2015/06/black_bears_becoming_more_and.html&ct=ga&cd=CAEYASoTMzY3MTc3NDc1NzgwNTkyNzU2NTIaMDMxYmZmYzUyNjEzNzVkYTpjb206ZW46VVM&usg=AFQjCNEMllViFVNeq_7fm7_RKQvfeX1hLg

Black Bears becoming more and more common(in Alabama)

A black bear that was seen meandering through several Calhoun County communities in recent days caused a lot of excitement. The presence of a black bear in their neighborhood is not something that many Alabamians are accustomed to seeing.

The truth is that it is something that is becoming more and more common in Alabama and especially in northeast Alabama. Officials have now documented more than 250 black bear sightings in that part of the state since 2005.

You are probably wondering where those bears are coming from and when are they going to go back home. The answers to that the bears are apparently courtesy of our neighbors to the north and east and yes and they are here to stay.

A small, permanent population of black bears has been living in the Mobile Delta for decades but the sudden appearance of black bears in northeast Alabama has absolutely nothing to do with bears from the Mobile Delta.

State wildlife biologists believe that there have been substantial increases in the black bear populations in both Tennessee and Georgia in recent years and bears in those two states have been sent packing looking for new territory. They apparently have found rural northeast Alabama to their liking.

The black bear that was seen wandering in Alexandria and Saks in recent days should have not really been too big of a surprise. Biologists say they have documented a fairly substantial and permanent resident population of black bears throughout much of northeast Alabama. There has even been evidence of black bears reproducing in not only Calhoun County, but Etowah, DeKalb, St. Clair, Jackson, Cleburne and Cherokee counties as well.

The black bears have been in northeast Alabama long enough now that several female bears that produced cubs here are now seeing their offspring reach maturity and they, too, are now breeding.

Many northeast Alabama residents are shocked to learn that they have black bears in their midst and there is good reason for that. Black bears are typically secretive in nature and avoid contact with humans at all costs. That's why they have taken a liking to northeast Alabama. If you've ever passed over that part of the state in an airplane you've seen that its is rich in expansive forests that are densely populated.

Some black bears love to roam, though, and that increases the likelihood of contact with humans. It's probably fruitless to tell someone that has a bear roaming through their neighborhood that they and their children have nothing to fear, but in reality they don't if they use a little common sense.

The poor bear is probably wondering how he got himself in such a situation and wondering what he can do to get out of it. So far, none of the northeast Alabama bears have caused any problems in their run-ins with humans.