BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

INEZ — The bear did not stay in the woods.

It wandered through an Inez neighborhood July 8, appearing near homes, peering into a window and prompting a series of calls to emergency dispatch.

Martin County Sheriff John Kirk described the animal as a nuisance bear that had visited several residences near Callaham Funeral Home.

At one home on Penix Drive, a resident told Sheriff John Kirk the bear rose onto its hind legs, placed its front paws against a window and looked inside.

Dispatch traffic traced other encounters through town.

Shortly after 4 p.m., a caller reported that a bear had someone cornered on a hill across from a car wash on West Main Street.

By 5:43 p.m., dispatchers had received multiple calls concerning the bear.

Kirk contacted the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources to have the bear removed.

The sheriff reminded residents to secure garbage, remove food from vehicles and never approach or feed a bear.
He advised that anyone encountering a nuisance bear should call Dispatch at 606-298-3211 or Fish & Wildlife at 606-433-7711.