LUDINGTON (WWJ) — The coast is clear in a Northern Michigan beach town after a black bear paid a surprise visit to the area Thursday morning.
The bear was spotted near Downtown Ludington around 9 a.m. Thursday, according to the Ludington Police Department.
Police had been asking the public to avoid the area as they, along with the Michigan State Police and Department of Natural Resources, tried to encourage the bear to return to the woods for several hours.
Multiple schools in the area were placed on lockdown while authorities dealt with the bear, according to a report from MLive.
Authorities eventually chased the bear to a wooded area southeast of town, according to the report. At one point officials fired a pepper ball gun at the bear to encourage it to climb down from a tree and keep moving, according to the report.
One video posted to Facebook showed the bear strolling through an alleyway, while other photos showed it running down a sidewalk.
Eventually, Ludington police said the bear “safely returned to its natural habitat.”