Rocky1
New member
Last I heard, they were talking 2024 at the earliest before they suggested any plans for a return of a Bear Hunting Season in Florida. Personally I don't see the liberals down there in central Florida thinking they're cute and cuddly that much longer.
And, those folks up on the north end of Ocala National Forest are not going to be a happy bunch of rednecks if they start trapping them on the south end and dumping them on the north end. Not to mention they won't stay there, they'll simply migrate back to where they trapped them in a few days.
Quote:Seminole County woman hospitalized after bear attack, FWC says
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission set up a trap about 50 yards from the dumpster where 68-year-old Jean Barber encountered the bear while walking her dog in the Heathrow neighborhood Wednesday night.
By Rene Stutzman and Desiree Stennett | Orlando Sentinel
What started as an ordinary dog walk Wednesday night ended with a woman in the hospital, the latest victim of a Central Florida bear attack..
Wildlife officers said 68-year-old Jeanne Barber's dog yanked at its leash and pulled her down when it spotted the bear at a construction dumpster in Heathrow.
The bear then attacked Barber, clamping its jaws around her arm.
The injury sent Barber to the hospital and a team of state wildlife officials to the upscale neighborhood to find out what happened, set a trap for the bear and calm neighbors whose reactions ranged from bemused to annoyed to fearful.
No one, however, seemed surprised. Neighbors reported seeing bears several times a week in Coventry, a neighborhood inside Heathrow. Sometimes the bears are alone, other times it's a mother with a string of cubs in tow.
"What's scary is the bears are around at all times, not just dawn and dusk," said Mark Schumacher, who on Thursday was visiting the construction site of his house, a few hundred feet from where the attack took place.
Schumacher has children ages 2, 4 and 6, and is concerned about them playing outdoors.
"I think now, once word gets around, people will be very nervous about going out for a jog," he said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been warning residents for weeks that bear activity is on the rise as the animals gorge on acorns and forage for other food, preparing for winter.
Barber's injury was not life-threatening, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
There was no other word about her condition or whether she was still at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, where a family member drove her after the attack.
Barber's attack was the third reported in Seminole County in the past year.
Wildlife commission spokesman Greg Workman said biologists don't know a great deal about the animal that injured Barber. They're not sure of its gender or its size.
A crew set up a trap about 50 yards from the construction dumpster where Barber was attacked.
Next to the dumpster a fresh paw print was visible on the ground.
The neighborhood where the attack occurred is new, with several houses — valued at $500,000 to $700,000 — still are under construction. The street where Barber was attacked was clogged Thursday with work trucks and construction crews.
Workman said state biologists did not know where the bear came from or where it retreated to after the one-bite attack. It did not harm Barber's dog.
Workman pointed to oak trees towering over the green steel cage — the bear trap — that a fish and game crew set up about 50 yards from the site of Wednesday's incident.
"As you can see, there's a lot of acorns," Workman said. "Bears feed on acorns."
He said a wildlife officer would patrol the area for the time being. He wouldn't say what the commission would do if it catches the bear.
Earlier this year, the commission was criticized after it killed seven bears following an attack on Terri Frana in her driveway in the Carisbrooke subdivision of Seminole County, which is just west of the site of Wednesday's attack.
That attack followed last December's mauling of Susan Chalfant in Wingfield North, a few miles south of where Barber was bitten.
Mark Newell, who lives a few blocks from the site of Wednesday's attack, said he regularly sees bears in the neighborhood. Ten days ago he photographed a mother with three cubs strolling about 60 feet from his house.
Four to six weeks ago, one bear was sitting just outside his home office window, he said.
"We see them probably two to three times a week," he said. "They're fun to see. They're fun to watch. You certainly don't want to have an encounter with one them."
An Orlando Sentinel database shows that, since 2008, 70 bear nuisance reports have been filed with FWC within a half-mile of where Barber was attacked.
Of the 70, at least 17 were reported within two blocks of the home.
"The people who have lived in Heathrow (for awhile) say they're used to them now. They say as long as you leave them alone and turn away, they'll leave you alone," Schumacher said.
But since the attack on Barber, Schumacher wants them gone, he said, adding that wildlife officials should trap every bear they encounter and relocate them to the north edge of Ocala National Forest.
When a bear attacks a human, he said, "It's too late."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-bear-attack-lake-mary-20141204-story.html
And, those folks up on the north end of Ocala National Forest are not going to be a happy bunch of rednecks if they start trapping them on the south end and dumping them on the north end. Not to mention they won't stay there, they'll simply migrate back to where they trapped them in a few days.
Quote:Seminole County woman hospitalized after bear attack, FWC says
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission set up a trap about 50 yards from the dumpster where 68-year-old Jean Barber encountered the bear while walking her dog in the Heathrow neighborhood Wednesday night.
By Rene Stutzman and Desiree Stennett | Orlando Sentinel
What started as an ordinary dog walk Wednesday night ended with a woman in the hospital, the latest victim of a Central Florida bear attack..
Wildlife officers said 68-year-old Jeanne Barber's dog yanked at its leash and pulled her down when it spotted the bear at a construction dumpster in Heathrow.
The bear then attacked Barber, clamping its jaws around her arm.
The injury sent Barber to the hospital and a team of state wildlife officials to the upscale neighborhood to find out what happened, set a trap for the bear and calm neighbors whose reactions ranged from bemused to annoyed to fearful.
No one, however, seemed surprised. Neighbors reported seeing bears several times a week in Coventry, a neighborhood inside Heathrow. Sometimes the bears are alone, other times it's a mother with a string of cubs in tow.
"What's scary is the bears are around at all times, not just dawn and dusk," said Mark Schumacher, who on Thursday was visiting the construction site of his house, a few hundred feet from where the attack took place.
Schumacher has children ages 2, 4 and 6, and is concerned about them playing outdoors.
"I think now, once word gets around, people will be very nervous about going out for a jog," he said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been warning residents for weeks that bear activity is on the rise as the animals gorge on acorns and forage for other food, preparing for winter.
Barber's injury was not life-threatening, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office.
There was no other word about her condition or whether she was still at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, where a family member drove her after the attack.
Barber's attack was the third reported in Seminole County in the past year.
Wildlife commission spokesman Greg Workman said biologists don't know a great deal about the animal that injured Barber. They're not sure of its gender or its size.
A crew set up a trap about 50 yards from the construction dumpster where Barber was attacked.
Next to the dumpster a fresh paw print was visible on the ground.
The neighborhood where the attack occurred is new, with several houses — valued at $500,000 to $700,000 — still are under construction. The street where Barber was attacked was clogged Thursday with work trucks and construction crews.
Workman said state biologists did not know where the bear came from or where it retreated to after the one-bite attack. It did not harm Barber's dog.
Workman pointed to oak trees towering over the green steel cage — the bear trap — that a fish and game crew set up about 50 yards from the site of Wednesday's incident.
"As you can see, there's a lot of acorns," Workman said. "Bears feed on acorns."
He said a wildlife officer would patrol the area for the time being. He wouldn't say what the commission would do if it catches the bear.
Earlier this year, the commission was criticized after it killed seven bears following an attack on Terri Frana in her driveway in the Carisbrooke subdivision of Seminole County, which is just west of the site of Wednesday's attack.
That attack followed last December's mauling of Susan Chalfant in Wingfield North, a few miles south of where Barber was bitten.
Mark Newell, who lives a few blocks from the site of Wednesday's attack, said he regularly sees bears in the neighborhood. Ten days ago he photographed a mother with three cubs strolling about 60 feet from his house.
Four to six weeks ago, one bear was sitting just outside his home office window, he said.
"We see them probably two to three times a week," he said. "They're fun to see. They're fun to watch. You certainly don't want to have an encounter with one them."
An Orlando Sentinel database shows that, since 2008, 70 bear nuisance reports have been filed with FWC within a half-mile of where Barber was attacked.
Of the 70, at least 17 were reported within two blocks of the home.
"The people who have lived in Heathrow (for awhile) say they're used to them now. They say as long as you leave them alone and turn away, they'll leave you alone," Schumacher said.
But since the attack on Barber, Schumacher wants them gone, he said, adding that wildlife officials should trap every bear they encounter and relocate them to the north edge of Ocala National Forest.
When a bear attacks a human, he said, "It's too late."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-bear-attack-lake-mary-20141204-story.html