Re: Fast-Food Nation TakesToll on Black Bears

Panhandle communities deluged with complaints about hungry bears

sun-sentinel.com
December 1 2003, 1:26 PM EST

      LANARK VILLAGE -- Hungry black bears from the Apalachicola National
Forest have been wandering into yards and streets of nearby Florida Panhandle
communities looking for food in greater numbers than usual this fall, state
conservation officials say.

      The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has received
numerous calls from residents of Carrabelle, Eastpoint and Lanark Village, said
agency spokesman Stan Kirkland, but he added that the influx of furry visitors
is no cause for alarm.

      Up to 13 bears a day have been reported in Lanark Village, a coastal
community about 40 miles southwest of Tallahassee, and there may be more. A
mother and two cubs Wednesday tied up daytime traffic on busy U.S. 98.

      ``I've been in this job for 12 years, and every year we've heard from
residents of Carrabelle and along the coast that see bears in the fall, but
this is by far the most calls and number of bears anyone has seen,'' said Arlo
Kane, a wildlife biologist for the commission.

      Kane is not sure how long the feeding frenzy will continue but he hopes
most of the bears will be back in the woods in a couple weeks.

      The bears, some weighing up to 500 pounds, feed heavily in the fall on
such foods as acorns, palmetto berries and persimmons to prepare for cold
weather. Florida black bears don't hibernate, but they do slow their activity
in winter.

      ``They're gorging themselves, putting on a lot of fat,'' Kirkland said.

      That quest brings them out of nearby pine forests with few acorn-bearing
oaks.

      David Hinton, who has lived in Lanark Village for 20 years, said the
bears are having a difficult time finding food here this year.

      ``My guess is only one (oak) tree in 10 has acorns,'' Hinton said.

      Hinton and wife Christine have switched to an afternoon garbage pickup to
avoid keeping their cans out at night, prime bear feeding time.

      Florida has never recorded a black bear attack on a human, but any wild
animal can pose a threat if frightened or agitated.

      ``The thing you have to remember is they are wild animals and you have to
give them their space,'' Christine Hinton said. ``I don't mind them being
here.''

      Other humans aren't so neighborly.

      ``There's a dichotomy of opinion,'' Kirkland said. ``Some think it's
great, some are frightened, some want them caught and moved, some want us to
come out and kill them. We're trying to take a reasonable, biological
approach.''

      That includes handing out packets of information door-to-door to help
educate the public about how to minimize bear problems. Some tips: avoid any
contact and don't leave edibles, such as garbage and dog food, outdoors.

      ``They're not hurting anything, and there's no reason to believe they'll
bother anybody,'' Kirkland said.

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