I can’t imagine looking out my window to see a 6-foot, 250 pound black bear pawing at the glass. That would be scary. But I still find it terribly sad that this bear had to be killed.
The neighborhood in Collier County where this bear was roaming and chasing people is located along the edge of the Everglades. State wildlife officers think that bear got too acclimated to being around humans and lost all fear.
The bear was roaming the neighborhood for hours, rummaging through garbage cans and even chased a woman into her car and then jumped on the car. Photos and video of the bear are here.
The Florida Wildlife Commission (FWC) officer who shot the bear tried backing away slowly but the bear kept charging him. The officer fell down, then regained his footing and finally had to shoot the bear to protect himself. It was the first time an FWC officer has killed a bear in Collier County.
I know that we have bears in Florida but I don’t think about it much since I live in a highly human populated downtown area. They are beautiful but I would hate to run across one outside my house. I definitely don't want them to be killed because we are encroaching on their territory though. Sad story.
Have you ever seen any wild bears in Florida?
©iStockphoto.com/Ashok Rodrigues
if seeing him after he was shot with tranquilzer counts then the answer is yes. In another lifetime I used to walk with a neighbor at a nearby park in the city limits..As we parked the car we noticed quite a bit of activity across the road --firetruck, police , sheriff --even from the next county south of us.. turned out the bear had traveled from west side of the county all the way over to that area --having cut thru the park--the other county had come up with the stuff to tranquilize the bear--he was loaded up and transported to the Ocala forest. If we had encountered that bear in the park I think we would have set a worlds record leaving LOL
Quoting Lispi:
Very sad. Sometimes it feels like humans destroy everything. :-(
This is such a sad story.Its not his fault! Why kill him?Makes me sick and angry at people.I swear animals have more compassion then some people do
Quoting momofsixangels:This is such a sad story.Its not his fault! Why kill him?Makes me sick and angry at people.I swear animals have more compassion then some people do
I have not seen any in Florida, but when I was driving in CT about a 1/2 mile from my house a tiny bear cub ran into the side of my car and tumbled back into the guard rail and just layed there. I pulled over and got out of my car to see if the cub was injured. If it was, I told my friends and relatives I would have put him or her into the back of my car and taken the cub to a vet - I had a gate up that I used when I transported my dogs so they stayed in the back seat. When I got within a foot of the cub, he/she got up and ran off into the woods. That made me happy, but everyone I told about it said I was nuts to try to get the cub into my car. The cub looked to be about 30 lbs. and my dogs were 60+ lbs. We have destroyed so much of the bear's habitats, that they have nowhere to go - so our solution is to kill them. I also can't stand deer hunters and when my uncles and brother brought a deer home for my mother to cook when I was about 4, I use to sit at the table and say to my dear relatives - I won't eat the deer - you killed Bambi's mother or father. So I guess one can say I am crazy, but I am an animal lover of all kinds and animal cruelty is rampant in the U.S. - look at the 92 dogs dropped off in two locations in Texas on highways - no concern about them being killed is a perfect example of what us humans have become.
I used to live in California in a small town in the mountains and we had so many bears. Everyone was used to seeing them all the time, never shot them or anything. I saw a couple outside my house, as long as we left them alone they didnt do anything. Sad, story that the bear had to be shot! :(
This or That?
- stephwest1
on Oct. 4, 2012 at 12:00 AM