Said bear is between two and three years old. S/he is of undetermined sex because well someone mentioned seeing cubs and another person said they weren’t sure if they saw cubs or not and I’m not going to push my luck and find out.
I have seen the bear myself and the wife has seen it several times. Now we need a name, any suggestions? We’ve thought of the usual bear names like Smokey and Poo (no ‘H’) and such but nothing really sounds just right. Herman don’t work and Gus just doesn’t sound right for a bear, so please help.
Fuzzy Wuzzy?
Colbert (pronounced Cole-bear)
Camembert.
So, how exactly can you have a bear? How does that work, even if you do manage to live in a rural and bear-able sort of area?
Blonde
I came in here to mention this and am not surprised I was beaten to the punch.
Godless killing machine? 
Word. Or should that be The Word. 
I manage to live in an area where this is very possible northern Quebec along the road to James Bay. We have close to one hundred acres, and the local garbage dump is not far away across the river. Though this is the first time we’ve seen one on our side of the river. He is of course completely wild and free to come and go as he pleases.
I was thinking of Griz but he’s only a little black bear and I don’t want him to develop a complex.
No name ideas. But remember to keep your trash well locked up. As much as you can. Don’t feed any domestic animals outside, and if you have a humming bird feeder, well, it will be the first to go.
I think “Honeybuns” is a nice name for a bear. I’ve called my husband this, and so far he hasn’t objected.
We’re well and truly used to living with Bears we have a holiday cabin on a lake in, well, bear country. Not that our home isn’t well within Bear country as it is . I’m used to seeing Bears about every day at work. I work in the bush helping with research in Forest management and Siliviculture and get to see plenty of bears. You spend long enough walking quietly around in the bush you see plenty of wild animals, If there is a chance of coming across a bear while working I just make sure I have a student with me who can’t run so fast in heavy boots, I’ve had plenty of practise. 
We just haven’t had a bear residing this close to home in a long while.
Definitely go with “Godless Killing Machine” Anything else would be misleading.
Flaubert?
Bruno or Ursala come to mind, but if they’re too obvious, perhaps Diogenes.
That sounds like a wonderful place to live, GawnFishin’. (Celyn now planning to become an illegal immigrant to Québec).
Hey, if he or she is a little black bear, it could be called “Sooty”. Sooty - Wikipedia
(OK, yes, that would give the poor thing a complex, to be named after an very old-timey kids’ telly programme.)
Thinking, now, what would I call a cute little bear? Ooh, yes, “Fireside rug” - that should be fine. 
Colbert is surely fine, but, here’s another for perusal, GawnFishin’. I’ll suggest “Mooin”, after the above linked Native American Tale, a bittersweet but heartening one about bears. Congrats on your adoption, and appreciation of bears. The larger animals need to make a good comeback in our woods.
I think Cecil would be a nice name for a very smart bear.
He’s a bear called Jeremy, he can do most anything. He can dance and he can sing…
Sorry. Probably most readers won’t get that.
Ahhh. OK. At this time of year, I have to be extra careful. I keep daily trash stored in a shed about 50 feet from the house until I can take it to the transfer station (about twice a month).
I did have the shed door ripped off once, and there are currently claw marks on it where a bear was trying to get in. He must have been scared off.
Little tunes like Do Re Mi? 