Kimball warns residents after large bear seen raiding trash bins

Kimball residents were told to keep trash inside until pickup day after a large bear spent the previous two nights getting into garbage bins around town. Officials said the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources was notified on May 14, and the warning was meant to treat the animal as a real public-safety issue, not a neighborhood curiosity.

The message to households was straightforward: do not put trash outside early, and remove anything that could pull the bear closer to homes. That included pet food, bird feeders, drinks stored outdoors, and other food sources that can turn a single visit into a repeat problem on the same street or alley. Residents were also told not to approach or feed the bear, and to call 911 if it began acting aggressively.

The concern fits a pattern wildlife officers say they see across West Virginia every spring. The Division of Natural Resources says nuisance black bear activity peaks in May and June, and reports can begin as early as April when berries and other high-energy natural foods are scarce. Common attractants include unsecured trash, food scraps, bird feeders, and pet food left outside, all of which can condition a bear to return to the same spot for an easy meal.

For McDowell County, the warning carried immediate practical weight. Kimball sits in a wooded part of the county where homes, driveways, and trash storage can border on the same spaces bears use to move through town. A bear raiding bins may sound routine to some residents, but officials warned that the risk rises quickly when children, pets, or people heading out early in the morning or late at night are nearby.

State wildlife officials say black bears are seldom aggressive and attacks are rare, but they also warn that bears that become food-conditioned and habituated to people can become a safety problem that is harder to solve. West Virginia’s bear population is estimated near 15,000 animals, and bears have been harvested in 53 of the state’s 55 counties in recent years. In Kimball, the immediate answer was less about confrontation and more about cleanup: secure the food, keep the trash in, and stop giving the bear a reason to come back.