DNR: Ann Arbor Bear Report Unconfirmed, Track Likely Dog

A possible black bear post sent local Facebook into wildlife detective mode, but state officials say the footprint photo does not match a bear.

An Ann Arbor-area bear rumor took off online this week, but state wildlife officials say a widely shared track photo does not appear to show a bear.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said it received a report about a potential bear sighting near Ann Arbor and a photograph of a possible bear track near Canton. But Cody Norton with the DNR said the Ann Arbor sighting could not be confirmed without evidence, and the track photos from Canton appear to show a domestic dog.

“The overall alignment of the toes, shape of the pad, and length of claws are all inconsistent with a black bear track,” Norton said in an email.

Norton said the Canton photos appear to show two domestic dog tracks, likely a front foot followed by a back foot, placed nearly on top of each other. That overlap gave the appearance of five toes in a single track.

The original Facebook post described a possible early-morning black bear sighting May 5 near Dexter Avenue and Maple Road in Ann Arbor. It also included a footprint photo that the poster said was taken later that day on the Lower Rouge Trail in Canton.

That distinction matters. The possible sighting was reported in Ann Arbor, but the footprint photo was from Canton, about 20 miles away. Without confirmation from wildlife officials, neither the sighting nor the track can be treated as evidence of a bear in Ann Arbor.

That did not stop the local guessing game.

The comment thread quickly became a mix of possible sightings, old memories, skepticism, wildlife theories and jokes. Some commenters described possible bear activity near Scio Church and Wagner roads, Judd Road between Milan and Saline, Hudson Mills, Island Lake and Grass Lake. Others questioned whether a bear could move through a populated area near Dexter Avenue and Maple Road without being caught on doorbell cameras or seen by more people.

Several commenters tried to read the track photo themselves. Some compared it to bear tracks they had seen elsewhere. Others pointed out that bears have five toes, while some turned to artificial intelligence tools for a quick answer.

None of those comments confirms a bear in Ann Arbor. But they show how quickly one possible wildlife sighting can become a regional conversation, especially in a part of Michigan where black bears are rare but not impossible.

Norton said a local wildlife biologist told him the last confirmed bear sighting in his coverage area was about 15 to 20 years ago, though the biologist was not certain of the exact location.

Bears are more commonly seen farther south on the western side of the Lower Peninsula, including near Grand Rapids, because of greater forest cover, Norton said. Still, bears do occasionally appear in areas such as Flint, Ovid and Owosso.

The Ann Arbor area has had bear buzz before. In 2011, AnnArbor.com reported on the so-called “Dexter bear,” which led the DNR to set a trap on Mast Road before reports stopped. In 2013, CBS Detroit reported that possible bear tracks at Hudson Mills Golf Course in Dexter raised similar questions, though a DNR official said at the time that the unclear prints could have been made by a bear or a large dog.

A recent local wildlife mystery followed a similar pattern. In April, The Sun Times News reported on a possible cougar sighting near Dexter after a resident shared backyard photos on Nextdoor. The DNR later reviewed the photos and identified the animal as a domestic cat.

For now, the Ann Arbor bear remains unconfirmed.

But online, it had already wandered through Ann Arbor, Canton, Dexter, Milan, Saline, Hudson Mills, Island Lake, Grass Lake and at least one Bigfoot joke. Residents who see a bear in the Dexter or Ann Arbor area, or who photograph a bear or signs of one, can contact the DNR Wildlife Division at [email protected] or 517-284-9453

Featured photo: A muddy paw print photographed in connection with a possible bear sighting in Washtenaw County. Photo courtesy of Haily K Wait