FOX articleDe Soto is probably about 10-15 miles from where I live. Black bears are rare in Missouri, but when they turn up, people freak out. It's all over every local news station here and people are hiding in their houses and even shutting down highways as they try to get the bear southwest to Mark Twain National Forest, which is
at the very least a good 30 miles SW of it's last reported location.
Before I lived at my house, neighbor reports and even a passive statement from the septic worker said that a black bear was seen in or near my yard.