Michigan Wildlife Agency To Lure Bears With Doughnuts And Bacon

Yogi Bear would definitely forgo the pic-a-nic basket in favor of these treats. MLive reports employees of Michigan's Department Of Natural Resources will soon try to bait bears—in an effort to count and survey them—with piles of doughnuts and bacon. (They may end up with a Takeout writer in the trap instead, FYI.)

The breakfast goodies—including a full 900 pounds of bacon— will be distributed among 257 sites. Each snare will have its own bacon-doughnut smorgasbord, which will lure bears into a circle surrounded by special barbed wire. The barbed wire will collect fur samples from the bears, which will be used to extract the animals' DNA. Bears are known to have a sweet tooth, which is why they like naturally occurring food sources like honey and blueberries, as well as not so naturally occurring food sources like frosted doughnuts.

In case the bears ask: Yes, the breakfast goods are locally sourced.

"Cops & Doughnuts and Ebel's Market, two local businesses, have helped us with our supplies for this survey," Dan Moran, a DNR wildlife technician, told MLive. "Ebel's in Falmouth gave us a great price on 900 pounds of bacon, and Cops & Doughnuts was a perfect partner for the large supply of doughnuts we needed for this project."

Um, asking for our next staff meeting a friend, how much exactly does 900 pounds of bacon and a truckload of doughnuts set you back?