An unwelcome plastic collar was removed from around the neck of a 2-year-old bear. Once upon a time there was a black bear in the Michigan woods. He roamed, hibernated, searched for food and did whatever else a bear does in the woods.

While most bears worry about finding their next meal, one in Michigan spent two years trying to get rid of his last one – or at least the container it came in.

State wildlife biologists have freed a black bear that had a plastic lid stuck around its neck. They believe the bear has been living with the lid around its neck for two years. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources saw the bear with the lid on its neck in 2023 on a trail camera at the DNR Atlanta field office.