For two years, a young black bear wandered the forests of Montmorency County, Michigan, with a plastic lid locked around his neck. The lid, similar to those found on 55-gallon bait barrels, had wedged itself behind the bear’s head, turning what should have been a fleeting encounter with human trash into a long-term survival challenge.

First spotted as a cub in 2023 on a trail camera at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Atlanta field office, the bear would vanish and reappear sporadically, always wearing the same blue collar of plastic.

Wildlife officials kept watch.

“The bear would prove elusive, occasionally appearing on other trail camera photos but then disappearing after a day or so,” the DNR noted in a statement shared by MLive.

Photo:  Michigan Department of Natural Resources

A plastic lid was stuck on a bear's neck in Michigan for two years.

Captured and Freed at Last

Everything changed in late May 2025, when a Hillman landowner’s trail camera snapped a new photo of the bear—still carrying the lid. The resident alerted the DNR, who moved quickly, setting a baited cylindrical trap with the landowner’s permission. By June 2, the bear was safely captured.

Wildlife biologists sedated the bear and cut away the lid on June 3. Photos released by the DNR show staffers huddled around the tranquilized animal, carefully removing the jagged plastic ring.

The bear, weighing in at 110 pounds, had deep scarring around his neck and an abscess, but was otherwise in decent condition.

"We were pleasantly surprised,” DNR bear specialist Cody Norton told The Guardian. “It was still able to make a living like a pretty typical bear.”

Photo:  Michigan Department of Natural Resources

The bear was first spotted as a cub on a trail camera in 2023.

Living Through the Impossible

Experts remain unsure how the bear managed to eat, sleep, and survive harsh Michigan winters with such a burden.

“It’s pretty incredible that the bear survived and was able to feed itself,” Norton told the Associated Press.

His neck, missing patches of fur and marred by the constriction, offered visible proof of the struggle. Wildlife biologist Angela Kujawa noted the bear likely adjusted his behavior to cope—possibly lying on his side more frequently and having to find creative ways to climb trees.

The lid appeared to have come from a bait barrel. While bear baiting is legal in Michigan, the law mandates that bait container openings must be either smaller than 1 inch or larger than 22 inches to prevent entrapments. The opening that ensnared this bear was roughly five inches—just the right size to become a deadly snare.

“Container openings of a certain size can result in bears and other wildlife getting their heads or other body parts stuck in them, leading to injury or death,” Norton told Bridge Michigan.

Photo:  Michigan Department of Natural Resources

The lid came from a 55-gallon barrel used for baiting bears.

A Reminder to Be “Bear Wise”

The incident serves as a sobering reminder of how human carelessness can harm wildlife. The DNR has called on landowners and hunters to dispose of or modify containers, such as crushing them or following legal baiting protocols. The department also urges residents to follow BearWise guidelines, including securing trash, removing outdoor pet food, and taking down bird feeders during active bear months.

The bear has since been released back into the wild—scarred, but free. His story adds to growing concerns about bear-human encounters in Michigan, where the black bear population has risen dramatically. The northern Lower Peninsula alone has seen a 55% increase over the past decade, Bridge Michigan reports.

This young bear beat the odds. But next time, better precautions might save an animal from having to.