BEAR SIGHTINGS ABOUND
June 28, 2005
CONTACT: Todd Nims (850) 265-3676
There was a day in the not-too-distant past when it was rare for black bears in Florida to venture into urban areas but today that’s no longer the case. Now, it’s an everyday occurrence.
An increasing bear population, ever expanding development and the population boom in Florida mean bears and humans mix on a daily basis. Consider the case last week when a 154-pound juvenile male bear found itself in the middle of the St. Andrews area in Panama City. That bear was tranquilized and taken to the Apalachicola National Forest where it was released.
The biggest key to living with bears, says Todd Nims, a wildlife biologist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), is to make sure you don’t leave anything outside that bears will eat.
“If you live in an area where you know you have bears or have experienced problems with them in the past, don’t leave things out like garbage or excess pet food. Garbage cans need to be secured or brought into a garage,” Nims said.
He said there are companies now that make bear-resistant devices for safely securing garbage cans. Diagrams on how to make these bear-resistant devices are also available on the Internet.
Nims said he’s handling a lot of nuisance bear calls now due to the dispersal of juvenile bears, mostly males, trying to find their own place where they can thrive. Over the last week or so, Nims said he’s spoken with homeowners experiencing bear problems in Santa Rosa County, Niceville, Shalimar, including Eglin AFB, Carrabelle and Crawfordville.
Nims said some callers are almost paranoid about the fact that bears are in their area and demand that the bears be caught and moved. He said moving a bear is one of the last things he usually recommends because it doesn’t solve the problem, nor does it address the larger issue that as development and habitat loss both increase, human/bear interactions will inevitably become more common. Besides, he says, other bears may continue to be a nuisance. However, in busy urban areas where a bear has little chance of safely getting back to its habitat, moving a bear is sometimes the only option.
One thing Nims tells people is black bears have never attacked anyone in Florida or most other southeastern states.
When the calls about nuisance bears come in, Nims said the answers are usually the same - remove the “attractants” and the bears will go away. In addition to garbage and pet food, Nims said bird feeders, charcoal grills with food drippings and decaying food in compost piles are all things that need to be eliminated in bear country.
Nims urges people who suspect they have bear problems go to the FWC’s Web site MyFWC.com and download the brochure “Understanding Florida’s Black Bear.” For those without computer access, individual copies can be obtained by calling Nims at (850) 265-3676 in Panama City.
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