By 
Dave Dalke was relaxing on his patio on the north side of Pelican Lake on the evening of Wednesday, June 18, when Ziva, his Brittany spaniel, started barking.
Ziva is not ordinarily a barker, so Dalke stood up to see what was happening. What he saw walking down the shoreline of Pelican Lake was an adolescent black bear.
“There’s enough of a hill from my yard that I couldn’t see it while I was sitting down,” Dalke told the Watertown Current. “But when I stood up, I could see a black bear on the beach.”
The bear, which he estimated to weigh about 200 pounds, was walking casually along the shoreline, heading east.
“It was not hunting or searching for trouble,” Dalke said, “and it wasn’t curious about our property. It was just passing through.”
At first, the bear wasn’t interested in the dog, but Ziva kept barking, and eventually the bear took notice.
“Ziva was just being protective, obviously, but then the bear got a little curious and came closer,” Dalke said. “I’m still calling my dog’s name, calling her back.”
Dalke once lived in Northern Minnesota, near Grand Rapids, and is no stranger to black bear encounters. So, he maintained his poise and even captured this encounter on video.
“This bear clearly was not intent on causing any harm,” he said. “I think it was just being playful. I was ready to defend my dog, but it wasn’t necessary. The bear just walked away.”
Dalke watched the bear continue on its way until it was out of sight. Some boaters on the lake also kept their eyes on it.
Dalke urged people to keep tabs on their pets, but he said the bear was just minding its own business.
“It never got alarmed. It never got aggressing. If we just leave it alone, it will be fine. I didn’t want anyone to think that the bear was a menace, because it wasn’t.”
To watch Dalke’s Facebook video go to https://www.facebook.com/david.dalke.75/videos/741224341708726.
