[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by Joe C.

Better to carry a camera and a few apples. Unless you corner a black bear or get between a sow and her cubs, the bear will be harmless. I've had many bears in my yard in Vermont. They would come around April and stay till mid September. Always looking for sunflower seeds from my bird feeders. One year it was a mom and three cubs that came around every evening for six months. It was fun to watch them climb the trees and chase each other around, sometimes for an hour and a half. Sometimes I would sneak around the corner of the cabin and roll a few apples at them.
Bears can't see all that well, but can certainly smell exceptionally well.
BTW ... I always had a bear tag with my hunting license, but never shot one.
AND they do taste pretty darn good......in stews or chilli. I'm just too lazy to skin and butcher one for food. I'd rather watch them.

Same here, when I was late teen’s I thought I want to deer hunt. I had one in my sites and could of easily killed it. But, I guess I figured I wasn’t starving for food and let it live for someone else to shoot.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by Syd2008

Hopefully your not serious. If indeed bear your new home is probably in their territory. Them first. You second.
Near wildlife preserve I would expect many types of wildlife large and small.

Yes, but who pays the property tax?

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by Topspinmo

Well, guess what the land was bulldozed clear cut. They just can’t fly away.

Says you!

[Hape2Bhr]

Originally Posted by Choro&Swing

Hey Razor Back, All you need to do is learn to be patient with many of the posters here. They spent most of their lives east of the Appalachians, deep in the concrete jungles.

Really? I spent 34 years east of the Appalachians, more than half my life, in the forests, Eastern Pennsylvania is such good country for bears that they are bigger and nearly always have twins, which is unusual.[/QUOTE]

If they are bigger and nearly "always" have twins, why is it so unusual?

[Nikki710]

Too funny. I'm visiting from Montana and marvel over setting out trash the night before pickup without using bear resistant containers. My world is so different.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

This bear attack recently happened where my children and I skied for years. I know that lodge well. Woman in hospital after being attacked by bear at Los Alamos ski lodge | KRQE News 13

This happened in a neighborhood in which I used to live, not far from my house. Untamed and Uncut - Bear Gets Electrocuted - YouTube

And imagine that - neither of those bears were the Florida Black Bear, which live - [drumroll] in Florida.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by CoachKandSportsguy

In June, I hit a wild pig crossing 75/florida turnpike at about 1AM - they are still here. Having grown up in a rural area i don't mind the wild animals living among us. . . though reptiles brain are so small that they are hard to relate to.

That's the thing people forget. Other than the buffalos, no one removed any of the wildlife when they tore up the terrain and built the Villages. The wildlife moved themselves back, but they didn't go away. They're still in the area. And now that there's more development, there is more risk of wildlife having no place to go BUT back to where they came from. Whether we have a house there or not.

[manaboutown]

"And imagine that - neither of those bears were the Florida Black Bear, which live - [drumroll] in Florida."

and the southern portions of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Florida black bear - Wikipedia

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

And imagine that - neither of those bears were the Florida Black Bear, which live - [drumroll] in Florida.

Bear attack in Florida leaves woman with 30 staples in head - CBS News

Brutal Bear Attack in Florida - YouTube

I rode my bike across country and when I got to Yellowstone National Park I was given a map and a big orange whistle. I was told to blow the whistle if I saw a bear. The ranger told me they had black bears and brown bears. Look for poop to know if they're in the area while out hiking he said. I asked how do I know if it's a brown bear or black bear poop? He said the black bears poop will have seeds in it and the brown bear poop will have an orange whistle in it.

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by Syd2008

Hopefully your not serious. If indeed bear your new home is probably in their territory. Them first. You second.
Near wildlife preserve I would expect many types of wildlife large and small.

exactly. these homes are built around wildlife preserves. expect bears & all other kinds of critters. when we 1st moved in, we had a sandhill crane peering into the bedroom window, LOL. i'd never seen birds that big before. it's what drew us to this location. i love seeing the wide variety of wildlife that lives here.

[bilcon]

There have been many bear sightings around the area. In Lady Lake there was one in a tree outside a beauty salon. I read somewhere that Ocala National Forest had a big population of black bear. You take their land, they take your food. Very strict laws against killing a black bear in Florida. If you don't believe me, look them up.The other day my "ring" door bell sent me a video of a house 1 mile from me that clearly showed a bobcat crossing the driveway of a house at night, soooo all you night dog walker better beware, there are critters out there just waiting for a meal.

[Micki]

A couple of years ago there was one seen in LaBelle at the intersection of Morse and Moyer Loop. The nature coast starts on the other side of 27/441 so bears around The Villages are no big surprise.

[GJohn]

Must be you have a corner lot......

[JackRussell]

Google Naples Bears. You'd be surprised how many YouTube videos there are of bears in metro Naples, FL!