Posted on 05/10/2025 4:45:16 PM PDT by Red Badger
Another week, another gruesome bear attack: this time a fatal one, claiming the life of an elderly man and his dog.
And – mind you – not in Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, or any other of the mountainous states, but in Florida.
A massive black bear, reported to weigh 300 pounds, mauled to death an 89-year-old Florida man and his devoted dog — the first ursine killing in state history.
New York Post reported:
“Robert Markel’s granddaughter called 911 on the morning of May 5, after seeing a 263-pound bear killing her dad’s dog right outside his camper, situated on her property in Jerome — about 70 miles south of Fort Myers.”
When Collier County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, it was too late for the dog.
And his owner, Markel, was missing.
“It wouldn’t be long though before his remains were located 100 yards from the camper. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found some of the killer bear’s DNA inside the camper and on the dog’s corpse.
Officials searched the area and found three bears, which they fatally shot and [tested] for DNA to identify which was responsible for the horrific killings.”
A forensic test found the remains of the man inside one of the bears’ stomachs.
As of now, it’s unclear whether Markel was killed before or after his dog.
“The FWC receives an average of 6,300 bear-related calls annually and has documented 42 prior incidents where wild black bears have made physical contact with people since the 1970s, when comprehensive records began being kept,” authorities explained.”
This incident is second bear mauling in the Sunshine State in 2025.
Read more:
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/outrage-as-connecticut-father-arrested-charged-killing-bear/
Red and black, friend of Jack.
Red and yellow, kill a fellow.
(read ‘and’ as touching)
You left out sharks and teens from Atlanta.
Thank you! I could not remember which colors indicate venomous when adjacent.
Shortly before we were transferred from NAS Jax to El Torro, one of my friends, a budding herpetologist, got bit by a coral snake he was trying to stuff it into a mason jar.
Lots of very expensive antivenom but he was out of the hospital and showing off the twin scabs on his finger the day we left.
That sort of thing helps one remember the jingle. Didn’t do him any good, he knew full well it was a coral snake when he captured it!
Extinction?!? Now hold on...
Well, just a little overstatement...
Certainly in urban areas tey need to be disappeared...
“after seeing a 263-pound bear killing her dad’s dog”
“ unclear whether Markel was killed before or after”
Are you kidding me?
She watched the bear killing the dog, but the guy was in the bear’s stomach. What was “unclear” about the sequence?
Florida also has the timber rattlesnake, also known as the canebrake rattlesnake. Its venom is extremely potent,being both hemorrhagic and neurotoxic. Florida has the largest variety of poisonous snakes of any state in America.
A few days ago I picked up a DVD from thrift store which shows all the most dangerous venomous snakes. I was impressed by skill and courage of the handlers trodding through thick vegetation in tropical countries searching for snakes. I did not know the most potent venomous snakes are sea snakes. They need to paralyze the prey very fast before it is lost in the ocean waves or drowned.
Carnivores have teeth design to tear, so they are more separated from adjacent teeth. Humans have no pronounced canine teeth which indicates we evolved by chewing and thus we are more omnivores than carnivores.
Teeth separated from adjacent teeth will collect less food debris and therefore less gum issues.
I love Florida run very well by Republican admins. Where I live in St Augustine, I have come across black bears, multiple gators, many snakes, scorpions, etc. But those one can avoid easily. What I am most scared of are fire ants. Those are horrible. I always wear long boots while mowing the lawn.
The exact same reason cone snails have very fast acting toxin. A snail isn’t even as good at chasing an envenomed prey item as a snake!
Agree. They can kill you without even trying. Get them mad or protective of their cubs, or even just hungry, and they are truly frightening.
Well I don’t like living in urban areas anyway...but would rather not be shot when I visit them.
I worked at a zoo and we had to clean the large cat's teeth once a year...talk about bad breath.
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