Bear tries campers' food at Glendalough, sheriff reports DWI arrests

A bear tried to reach campers’ food at Glendalough State Park, putting one of Otter Tail County’s busiest summer recreation areas at the center of this week’s sheriff’s blotter. The June 16-22 log also recorded DWI arrests, dog bites and bones found in water and in the park, a reminder that peak-season calls are mixing wildlife encounters with routine public-safety work.

Glendalough sits in a lake-strewn, partially wooded corner of Everts Township and Girard Township, where cart-in tent camping, yurts, hiking, biking, wildlife observation, canoeing and a sandy swimming beach draw steady summer traffic. Annie Battle Lake, the park’s 335-acre non-motorized Heritage Fishery, adds to the foot traffic around campsites, trails and shoreline areas where people, pets and wildlife can cross paths quickly.

The bear call is the kind of encounter the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says campers should expect to prevent rather than improvise around. The agency says food, trash, clothes worn while cooking and toiletries should be stored outside a tent, using approved bear-resistant containers or other proper storage methods so animals do not become conditioned to campsites and human food. The DNR also says black bears are part of an expanding range in Minnesota and asks people to report bears seen outside their normal range.

The department’s BearWise guidance says anyone who spots a bear should give it an escape route and back away slowly. If the bear approaches, the advice is to hold your ground, wave your arms and yell until it leaves, using bear spray if needed.

The Glendalough encounter was only one part of the county’s latest call log. The sheriff’s report also included bones found in water and at the park, along with DWI arrests and dog bites, all of which point to the range of incidents deputies are handling across Otter Tail County as summer recreation picks up.

Otter Tail County posts its Sheriff Daily Activity Report online and updates it daily, giving residents a way to follow calls for service as they happen. In a county where park traffic, lake activity and late-night driving often overlap, the week’s blotter shows the same pressure points deputies keep meeting again and again: impaired drivers, loose dogs, wildlife conflicts and the occasional report of suspicious remains.