DeBary deals with nuisance bears; state asks residents to help by putting away trash and pet food

PHOTO COURTESY FWC
Looking for lunch — A bear pauses for a photo op during its attempts to open a bear-resistant trash toter. Bears can develop a taste for garbage and cause destruction and danger in their attempts to get to it. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission suggests use of bear-resistant trash containers and storing pet foods or other bear attractants in sheds or garages.

BEACON PHOTO/PAT HATFIELD
Don’t feed the cranes, either — Sandhill cranes, like these in a DeLand yard, are tolerant of humans. Feeding them can be harmful, wildlife officials say.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Oct 23, 2009 - 9:53:06am

One of the finest things about life in West Volusia is the proximity to wild, unpaved spaces. With the St. Johns River as our boundary and acres of untouched forest, opportunities abound to commune with nature.

Sometimes nature comes uncomfortably close. Take for example, bears visiting the DeBary

Bears normally eat a diet of plants, berries, nuts, fruits and a bit of meat and insects. Presented with the opportunity, they can become garbage and pet-food junkies — and a neighborhood nuisance.

Several bears have been removed from DeBary Plantation, west of U.S. Highway 17-92 in DeBary, in the past few years.

City Council Member Van Conoley has brought up the bear problem several times at city meetings in recent months.

At the beginning of October, a large bear was trapped on Rosedown Boulevard in DeBary Plantation, the site of frequent complaints. It was relocated to the Ocala National Forest.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) spokeswoman Joy Hill said the problem arises when bears lose their fear of humans.

Bears are naturally shy and secretive. But, like people, they often take the path of least resistance. If dinner is available from garbage cans or pet food left on a porch, bears will become used to foraging through neighborhoods for their suppers. They begin to lose their fear of people.

When residents feed bears, that only compounds the problem.

“Don’t do it,” Hill said.

It’s illegal, for one thing.

At least one bear-feeding ticket was issued this month in DeBary.

“We had been out there the month before,” Hill said.

A written warning was issued then. The feeding continued, and this month, the resident was issued a ticket.

The penalty for feeding wildlife, including bears, raccoons, foxes and sandhill cranes, is up to 60 days in jail and $500 in fines.

Wildlife officers don’t cruise neighborhoods looking for people to cite, Hill said. They follow up on complaints.

Bear country

DeBary Plantation borders a large wooded tract — thousands of acres — reaching down to the St. Johns River. The tract is mostly uninhabited and is perfect bear country.

“There’s a lot of good bear habitat in this area,” Hill said.

Wooded areas in the Wekiva River Basin and the Tiger Bay State Forest also provide excellent habitats for bear and other wildlife.

As people moved to places such as DeBary Plantation, bear-related calls logged by the FWC skyrocketed, from 450 in 1998 to an estimated 1,500 in 2008. The FWC estimates human activities in Florida have eliminated bears from about 83 percent of their former habitat.

There are about 3,500 black bears in Florida.

Though normally shy of people, black bears are large, powerful animals, weighing between 150 pounds and 400 pounds. The largest bear on record in Florida, a male, weighed in at 624 pounds. Bears can be destructive to property, and interactions can be dangerous for people and bears, Hill said.

No human fatalities have been reported in Florida, but people have been bitten and their flesh raked by bear claws.

It’s usually the bear that loses. It may be relocated or destroyed.

Some relocated bears try to find their way back home and are eventually destroyed, if not hit on a roadway. A relocated bear may have to contend with an unhappy bear who has already staked out that territory.

So, for the sake of bears and people, it’s important to discourage them from visiting neighborhoods:

• Put out garbage the morning it is to be picked up, instead of the night before. Bears do most of their foraging at night.

• Bear-resistant trash cans are available, and may be necessary in the DeBary neighborhood bears have been visiting, Hill said.

• Don’t leave dishes of cat or dog food outside.

• Store pet food, barbecue grills and smokers in a shed or garage.

• It may be necessary to put an electric fence around compost piles, beehives, and fruit- and nut-bearing trees.

• Do not feed bears.

If you encounter a bear, don’t run, the FWC advises. Remain standing upright, avoid direct eye contact, back up slowly, and speak in a calm voice. Give the bear an escape route.

If the bear climbs a tree, keep people and pets away. The bear will usually come down and retreat to the woods after dark, when it feels safe.

Hill reminded West Volusians not to feed other wildlife, even the beautiful sandhill cranes that visit many residential yards. Like bears, the cranes begin to see humans as a source of food, and their long, sharp beaks can cause injury.

“You’re not really doing the wildlife any favors by feeding them,” Hill said.

In Lakeland, a 74-year-old woman was attacked Oct. 4 by a family of raccoons — an adult and four offspring — when she tried to shoo them away from her home in a well-populated neighborhood, according to a report in The Lakeland Ledger.

The woman had long gashes on her legs. She fell down during the attack, and the raccoons bit her head and back. The woman was hospitalized.

Report any wildlife problems to the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 1-888-404-3922.

— pat@beacononlinenews.com

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