An adult black bear wandering southeastern Wisconsin in recent weeks made its way into Sheboygan County late Tuesday, and no one was more surprised than Judy Matye.

"I was 10 feet from it," said Matye, who lives east of Random Lake. "I was pulling weeds down by my fire pit down there. I thought I heard something, I looked up and here's this huge bear. I couldn't even scream - I started running as fast as I could."

Matye said she turned around as she reached the house to see the bear standing on its hind legs looking perplexed by the commotion but not aggressive. That did little to reassure her.

"When I called the police department ... they said they're more scared of you. I said, 'I don't think so, I just about peed my pants,'" Matye said with a laugh Wednesday morning. "I would have never in my life thought I would see a bear in my back yard. It was an experience of a lifetime, that's for sure."

Dale Katsma of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said the bear spotted by Matye and her neighbors from 7 to 9 p.m. and also was seen west of Random Lake and in Fredonia on Monday. It is believed to weigh 300 to 350 pounds.

"It seems to happen every three years or so, we get one that roams down here, but it doesn't happen too often," Katsma said.

But the DNR established Wednesday there are at least two separate bears roaming southeastern Wisconsin after a warden spotted a black bear in Watertown about noon. That location, nearly 50 miles southwest of Random Lake, is too far for one bear to have traveled since Tuesday night, Katsma said.

Black bear sightings also were confirmed Sunday near Kewaskum and last week west of Fond du Lac and in Winnebago County, according to media reports.

"This one seems to be moving, it's not staying in one place, so it's probably trying to find another bear," Katsma said, adding that nearly all bears in Wisconsin live in the northern third of the state. "That's what happens when bears get out of their range. ... We're keeping our fingers crossed it stays out of trouble and finds its way home."

One of the first reported sightings Tuesday evening came from Daniel Schueller, 66, who said he was shocked when the bear ambled by his house in Random Lake.

"I was sitting in my living room and I looked out the window and here a bear was going past the window about 30 feet from the house," Schueller said. "We got a rock with a bush by it, and he put his paws over the top of the rock and he was scratching his belly."

The bear spent about 10 minutes wandering around Schueller's house before moving north to Matye's yard and then the property around Richard and Mary Rauwerdink's house. Richard Rauwerdink - who had been scouting bear hunting locations in northern Wisconsin over the weekend - said he headed for the woods in search of the bear after Matye called to say it was in the area.

"When I decided I was going to go back to the house, all the sudden there he was 12 feet away from me," Rauwerdink said. "I went to the house and got my camera, and he kind of followed me. ... We took a couple pictures and all of a sudden people started showing up."

The Rauwerdinks called their sons and the sons called their friends and a crowd of more than 30 people showed up as the bear wandered the property for nearly two hours. Rauwerdink said the bear climbed a tree in his yard and later a tree just off his property.

"I didn't see any bear up north, come home and I've got one in my yard," he said.