[Darren McCarty]

Didn't know there were bears in Florida. I figured there were too many people.

Wonder if some folks were feeding the bears since they usually try to avoid people.

[DanielRedfoot]

I have friends in that area. Ond day, napping ont the couch when a bear walked through the pool screen and intro the living room. My friend was “sniffed” awake and about shite him self.
The bear freaked too and ran deeper into the house.
It was a mess.
They think he smelled the BBQ grill by the pool used the previous day.
Nobody hurt thank goodness.

[boycott]

Didn't know there were bears in Florida. I figured there were too many people. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I've seen a lot of these signs in Florida.

[wonkowasright]

A few years ago one showed up in the swimming pool of the Hard Rock Cafe. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-08-29/news/fl-black-bears-20100829_1_bear-protection-laurie-macdonald-deer-hunting

[stockpirate]

From the report it appears she is not very bright, must be an Obama voter. Rule one, if you see a wild bear get away from it, go inside. She stood in the driveway and watched them, I’ll bet she was walking towards them wanting to get a better look or even taking pictures.

Wonder if she has pictures of being almost eaten by a bear

[bandleader]

There are a lot of bears(and other creatures)up here,but they haven’t bothered me.I don’t put ANY rubbish out but if I had a problem,I’ve got The Solution!

[greeneyes]

If that was a mother bear and cubs, she is lucky to be alive.

[Ditter]

We have been to the Ocala area, beautiful country. I never dreamed there were bears there!

[representativerepublic]

there is a large population of black bears in central to southwest Florida. Unfortunately, we are encroaching on their territory and contact with humans is becoming more common. This one seems to have had bad outcome. Many of the Orlando suburbs (Longwood, Lake Mary, etc.) have bear encounters frequently.

[Hot Tabasco]

Wonder if some folks were feeding the bears since they usually try to avoid people.

Well, there have been several threads about some old broad down there who has been cited many times for feeding bears, one of which had to be killed.

When I first spotted this thread, I immediately thought of her......

As a side note, there was actually a FReeper here who was supporting her stupidity.......

[Delta Dawn]

Oh yeah. The black bear here in Florida goes about 200lbs and if it stands up on its hind legs will go between 5 & 6 feet tall.

I have had them cross the road as I have been driving by.

They by-and-large hug the woods around the populated areas.

These bears must have been really hungry.

Bears, gators and democrats are our biggest problems here in Florida.

[Little Ray]

Lots of bears in the Panhandle. My dad hit one. Fortunately, he was driving a Crown Vic, so the bear lost.
We seem them frequently when driving the “Forgotten Coast Highway” 319/98.

[bert]

——Didn’t know there were bears in Florida-—

As I recall the reaalestate selling in Florida was a bear market

[bgill]

Yeah, whenever I see bears in the driveway, I always wander around the house looking for more and interrupting their mealtime instead of getting into the house and calling Fish and Wildlife. Somehow, I don’t think the family’s account is truthful. She went to the garage to get the bikes and the kids came out, probably loud like kids are, and they rode off down the driveway. Where were the bears when the kids were out there? Did they magically appear, poof!, the instant the kids rode off? She didn’t see the trash all over the garage? Sounds like she was intentionally bothering them.

[Rashputin]

Evacuate Lake Mary, Fla. and leave it to the bears. It's the only reasonable solution. /sarc

[pleasenotcalifornia]

Black bears are the most dangerous in that they are more likely to finish off their victims. Brown Bears-Grizzly may just maul you if you are lucky, if you can call that luck. I lived in Kodiak AK for a couple of years and had a little experience with the Kodiak version. I learned much more from a well known biologist that lived there.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Jeez! I grew up in Fla and finding a bear was like finding Bigfoot. What happened.

[5th MEB]

Most folks don't know, because the environazis don't want you to know; black bears are responsible for about 95% of the bear mauling's and bear related fatalities in the lower 48 states.
I don't bother them until they do live stock predation and property damage to my farm; when they get to that point, they are a danger to my family so I just kill them.

[Popman]

———Didn’t know there were bears in Florida. I figured there were too many people.-——

You must not get out much.....

[RetiredTexasVet]

I can’t confirm it, but rumor has it that those are actually over-tanned polar bears that migrated from the North Pole ice packs due to Global Warming causing a shortage of frozen food.

[SJackson]

If you’d like to be on or off this Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me. And ping me is you see articles of interest.

And if you're not armed, or are, at least carry bear spray. I carry both.