‘Dark shape’ in Michigan brush sparks bear report. Closer look reveals something else

A Michigan homeowner believed there was a bear standing in her front yard when she called for help, officials say, but a closer look revealed something else.

The woman reported a “dark shape in the brush” of her yard had been there for several hours, according to a late-February report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Conservation Officer Tim Barboza was called to check on the Newaygo County home and arrived after dark, officials said. The resident showed him the dark shape, and he began approaching the brush.

That’s when he noticed there were not any bear tracks.

So, Barboza got closer, officials said — “close enough to tell the ‘bear’ was a large black trash bag.”

He pulled the trash bag from the brush and gave it to the homeowner, who then went to show her family the “bear.”

Newaygo County is in west Michigan, about 50 miles north of Grand Rapids.