Bacon is being used as by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to conduct bear hair-based research according to an mlive.com story.

Almost 900 lbs. of bacon along with dozens of doughnuts will be used to conduct monitoring research on bears in Northern Michigan. 

A local grocery store in Falmouth, Michigan, supplied the bacon, according to the report.

“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 donuts we needed for this project,” said Dan Moran, DNR wildlife technician.

There are about 257 baited locations that will monitored beginning in late May with the goal of collecting bear hair samples from strategically positioned barbed wire.

To reach the delicious bait, bears will have to climb across the fur-collecting barbed wire. Researchers plan to collect and log DNA from the hair samples. This is a standard wildlife survey done by the DNR of Michigan.