Florida bear season proposal?
Posted: Mon Nov 30, 2009 12:56 am
http://www.newsherald.com/news/week-794 ... istol.html
Hunter proposes two-week bear season
Comments 8 | Recommend 2
November 29, 2009 05:16:00 PM
LINDSEY BAILEY KAFONEK
BRISTOL — Mickey Larkins would rather watch bears than hunt them.
But he’s seen enough.
Larkins, vice president of the Florida Bear Hunters Association, plans to step into the next Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in February “loaded for bears.”
Larkins, who lives in Bristol, is studying the population of black bears in the Panhandle to convince the FWC to open a short black bear hunting season.
“It has been over 10 years ago since there was a bear season open in Florida, and we are now seeing the repercussions of the increase in the black bear population,” Larkins said.
The FWC estimates there are now 3,500 black bears that live along the Florida Panhandle.
His proposal: a two-week season, perhaps, with 50 bear tags sold to hunters in 10 counties. Those hunters could pay private land owners to hunt on their property.
“I am not saying open any hunting in the national forests,” Larkins said.
His theory is that an abundance of black bears in the area’s national forests has caused the older bears to push the younger ones out of the territory to prevent interbreeding. Those banished bears then wander off, far from their original woodlands, nearing the edge of developed areas where they begin to smell garbage.
Those hungry bears, Larkins said, gradually lose fear of the people who are providing the food — and their neighbors.
“I and several other people I know who own major tracts of land have being dealing with these bears that have become a nuisance problem,” Larkins said. “I have moultrie game feeders that the bears continue to turn over and tear up as well as deer feeding patches that are intended for the deer, which (the bears) destroy.”
As part of his effort, Larkins is asking outdoorsmen to e-mail him photos of bears they see or, absent photographic proof, call and tell him about a bear encounter.
He will present this data at the next FWC meeting.
FWC spokesman Lt. Stan Kirkland said officials might not buy it.
“There has got to be some sort of census technique and based on a scientific method for the study to be credible,” Kirkland said. “How can it be assured that these photos sent to him would definitely be coming from the state of Florida?”
FWC counts bears with its “hair snare study” — baiting four-sided enclosures that collect bear hair, which biologists can use to check DNA.
With the snare study, the biologists gather high and low numbers of bears in each area.
Kirkland confirmed the population has spiked since 1995, when the FWC shut down a bear hunting season.
But he said he doesn’t think it’s time to reopen it.
“Even though population has increased, we could not sustain hunting,” Kirkland said. “It is not a biological decision only; there are other related factors, such as it being public-supported or not. There is a sociological issue here. Some citizens would be very angry at opening up a bear season regardless of the population number. This is because they view these animals of the wild as being cute like teddy bears and do not want to see them killed.”
Larkins said he is just looking for a fair solution, one that thins the bulging bear population and thus keeps their food sources plentiful.
“Instead of political correctness, let’s have political fairness,” he said. “The situation needs to be fair to the landowners, the animal rights group, and the animals themselves. We need to remember that everyone can’t be satisfied. If we allow the bears to continue to populate with no control, they will continue to be hit accidentally on the roads, too.”
Some others agree with him.
“Mother Nature will start killing them off anyway if we don’t manage it with hunting,” fellow hunter Butch Lovelace said of the bear population.
“All the organizations, such as forestry and wildlife, are too politically oriented,” he said. “We need to not listen so much to the public. When the problem becomes personal is when it starts to matter to people.”
Another hunting season supporter, outdoor writer Scott Ellis, suggested the state could hold a lottery for 10 bears to be killed each year. At $500 a bear, the state could make money.
“There is a huntable population in certain regions of Florida — all counties encompassing the Ocala Forest,” Ellis said. “We see them so frequent, it would not take a biologist. Just based on sighting alone we know there is a sustainable population.”
Over the last couple of weeks, bears have been moving into neighborhoods north of Springfield, and in Brentwood and Avondale Estates. In Okaloosa County, a man shot and killed a mother bear recently because he said he feared she would charge him.
In Springfield, the police chief said he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“With these informational brochures that are being sent out, it will teach the citizens how to secure their garbage so the bears don’t keep coming around. Citizen education is what I have chosen to do,” Springfield Police Chief Phillip Thorne said.
At Avondale Estates in Springfield, bears have begun knocking over garbage cans and dragging away trash. They’ve even lounged on top of vehicles, leaving behind muddy paw prints.
“Nobody wants to see them hurt, but we need to get them away from the community,” said Laura Planey, an Avondale resident. “If you run them off, they will come strutting right back out on scene to gobble up their fast food.”
Some residents have taken to feeding the bears, which aggravates the problem. And a fast-food diet is unhealthy for a black bear, anyway, said Dave Telesco, an FWC bear biologist. “Bears should be eating mostly plants, berries, acorns, insects and occasionally meat,” he said.
Telesco said there never has been a predatory attack in Florida by a black bear.
“They are not aggressive animals,” he said. “So only if provoked would they possibly get irritated and lash out.”
Some residents remain nervous.
Ann Nola, who last saw a bear next to her car in her driveway, said she is “leery of taking my dog out to use the bathroom.”
Kristen Mcavoy said her “immediate reaction was to scream” upon seeing a bear.
The last one she saw outside, “I could see through my window that it followed me home and climbed over my fence,” she said.
Others take the bears in stride. Matt Caulder, another Avondale resident, said he enjoys seeing them.
“I like the bears, and wouldn’t mind one as a pet,” Caulder said. “Bears don’t scare me.”
Hunter proposes two-week bear season
Comments 8 | Recommend 2
November 29, 2009 05:16:00 PM
LINDSEY BAILEY KAFONEK
BRISTOL — Mickey Larkins would rather watch bears than hunt them.
But he’s seen enough.
Larkins, vice president of the Florida Bear Hunters Association, plans to step into the next Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission meeting in February “loaded for bears.”
Larkins, who lives in Bristol, is studying the population of black bears in the Panhandle to convince the FWC to open a short black bear hunting season.
“It has been over 10 years ago since there was a bear season open in Florida, and we are now seeing the repercussions of the increase in the black bear population,” Larkins said.
The FWC estimates there are now 3,500 black bears that live along the Florida Panhandle.
His proposal: a two-week season, perhaps, with 50 bear tags sold to hunters in 10 counties. Those hunters could pay private land owners to hunt on their property.
“I am not saying open any hunting in the national forests,” Larkins said.
His theory is that an abundance of black bears in the area’s national forests has caused the older bears to push the younger ones out of the territory to prevent interbreeding. Those banished bears then wander off, far from their original woodlands, nearing the edge of developed areas where they begin to smell garbage.
Those hungry bears, Larkins said, gradually lose fear of the people who are providing the food — and their neighbors.
“I and several other people I know who own major tracts of land have being dealing with these bears that have become a nuisance problem,” Larkins said. “I have moultrie game feeders that the bears continue to turn over and tear up as well as deer feeding patches that are intended for the deer, which (the bears) destroy.”
As part of his effort, Larkins is asking outdoorsmen to e-mail him photos of bears they see or, absent photographic proof, call and tell him about a bear encounter.
He will present this data at the next FWC meeting.
FWC spokesman Lt. Stan Kirkland said officials might not buy it.
“There has got to be some sort of census technique and based on a scientific method for the study to be credible,” Kirkland said. “How can it be assured that these photos sent to him would definitely be coming from the state of Florida?”
FWC counts bears with its “hair snare study” — baiting four-sided enclosures that collect bear hair, which biologists can use to check DNA.
With the snare study, the biologists gather high and low numbers of bears in each area.
Kirkland confirmed the population has spiked since 1995, when the FWC shut down a bear hunting season.
But he said he doesn’t think it’s time to reopen it.
“Even though population has increased, we could not sustain hunting,” Kirkland said. “It is not a biological decision only; there are other related factors, such as it being public-supported or not. There is a sociological issue here. Some citizens would be very angry at opening up a bear season regardless of the population number. This is because they view these animals of the wild as being cute like teddy bears and do not want to see them killed.”
Larkins said he is just looking for a fair solution, one that thins the bulging bear population and thus keeps their food sources plentiful.
“Instead of political correctness, let’s have political fairness,” he said. “The situation needs to be fair to the landowners, the animal rights group, and the animals themselves. We need to remember that everyone can’t be satisfied. If we allow the bears to continue to populate with no control, they will continue to be hit accidentally on the roads, too.”
Some others agree with him.
“Mother Nature will start killing them off anyway if we don’t manage it with hunting,” fellow hunter Butch Lovelace said of the bear population.
“All the organizations, such as forestry and wildlife, are too politically oriented,” he said. “We need to not listen so much to the public. When the problem becomes personal is when it starts to matter to people.”
Another hunting season supporter, outdoor writer Scott Ellis, suggested the state could hold a lottery for 10 bears to be killed each year. At $500 a bear, the state could make money.
“There is a huntable population in certain regions of Florida — all counties encompassing the Ocala Forest,” Ellis said. “We see them so frequent, it would not take a biologist. Just based on sighting alone we know there is a sustainable population.”
Over the last couple of weeks, bears have been moving into neighborhoods north of Springfield, and in Brentwood and Avondale Estates. In Okaloosa County, a man shot and killed a mother bear recently because he said he feared she would charge him.
In Springfield, the police chief said he hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
“With these informational brochures that are being sent out, it will teach the citizens how to secure their garbage so the bears don’t keep coming around. Citizen education is what I have chosen to do,” Springfield Police Chief Phillip Thorne said.
At Avondale Estates in Springfield, bears have begun knocking over garbage cans and dragging away trash. They’ve even lounged on top of vehicles, leaving behind muddy paw prints.
“Nobody wants to see them hurt, but we need to get them away from the community,” said Laura Planey, an Avondale resident. “If you run them off, they will come strutting right back out on scene to gobble up their fast food.”
Some residents have taken to feeding the bears, which aggravates the problem. And a fast-food diet is unhealthy for a black bear, anyway, said Dave Telesco, an FWC bear biologist. “Bears should be eating mostly plants, berries, acorns, insects and occasionally meat,” he said.
Telesco said there never has been a predatory attack in Florida by a black bear.
“They are not aggressive animals,” he said. “So only if provoked would they possibly get irritated and lash out.”
Some residents remain nervous.
Ann Nola, who last saw a bear next to her car in her driveway, said she is “leery of taking my dog out to use the bathroom.”
Kristen Mcavoy said her “immediate reaction was to scream” upon seeing a bear.
The last one she saw outside, “I could see through my window that it followed me home and climbed over my fence,” she said.
Others take the bears in stride. Matt Caulder, another Avondale resident, said he enjoys seeing them.
“I like the bears, and wouldn’t mind one as a pet,” Caulder said. “Bears don’t scare me.”