As creeping urbanization slowly takes over nature’s wild habitats, denizens of the wild increasingly find themselves living in close quarters with us human folks — and foraging our garbage for food. Case in point: The black bear. Once you had to go camping to risk an encounter with creatures of the ursine kind, a.k.a. bear. Now you can step out into your backyard and surprise a black bear attracted by the smell of the steaks on your grill.
While finding a bear in your backyard (or while walking your dog in the neighborhood, or when you’re on a camping trip) can be startling, to say the least, and may make your pulse pound, black bears are not dangerous unless they’ve been confronted, according to Ray Simonsen, Sr., known as “Ray the Trapper.”
Ray is a licensed nuisance wildlife trapper but says you don’t need to call a trapper if you encounter a black bear. “They’re very docile,” he says.
You can chase it away yourself, but don’t turn tail and run, he advises. Instead, put your hands in the air. Clap your hands, and yell at the bear — something like, “Hey bear, get out of here, bear.”
Back up. Don’t turn your back to the bear. You can get a small airhorn at a sporting goods store. One blast will scare the bear back into woods. The bears are more afraid of us than we are of them. There is also bear spray, available at local stores like Dick’s and Bass Pro Shops.
Although bears are normally docile creatures, if one is confronted or feels threatened by a human or a pet, it could react. As long as a bear has the means of a way out, it will retreat unless it has cubs in the area. But if cornered by people or pets, it could become aggressive.
Bears have been known to tree themselves when scared. If you do encounter a bear and see it climb a tree, leave it alone. It’s not stuck in the tree. It will come down on its own. Just let any neighbors know that there is a treed bear, so they don’t approach the tree and bother the bear. If left to its own means of escape, it will be fine and not bother anyone.
While there’s no way to ensure you won’t have a bear encounter, especially if you’re camping, you can minimize the chances of finding one in your backyard: Keep your garbage cans covered and secured. Thoroughly clean out any backyard grill, fryer, or smoker, and don’t leave food droppings on the adjacent ground. Clean up promptly after a barbeque or picnic; no matter how tired you are, don’t leave the clean-up till morning. Bears can smell food from two miles away.
If you do find a bear in your yard, chances are he is just passing through — unless you’ve left something appetizing out. If the bear can get into your garbage or finds something else of interest, then, just like Arnold Schwarzenegger, he’ll be back.
You are more likely to see a bear in the spring at dusk and dawn. Like most other wildlife, they conserve their energy in the heat of the day.
What you should not do in case of a bear encounter is shoot the creature. Bears are a protected species. They are losing more and more of their habitat to construction, but the good news (for the bears, if not for those humans who fear them) is that the Florida black bear is making a comeback. There are some estimated 1400 black bears in the state now, up from the low 100s in the 1970s.
Their worst enemies are humans and cars. Despite laws, poachers still kill bears for their meat and/or their hides. And now there’s a new dark motive for bear poaching: extracting the bears’ gall bladders. It seems that the bile this organ produces is erroneously believed to have medicinal properties.
The legal consequences for killing bears are less severe than those for killing turkey and deer out of season. But recent proposals would set the minimum fine for killing bears at $750 instead of the maximum $500 under current law. Also, hunting licenses could be suspended for three years, rather than the current yearlong maximum. There is now an effort on the federal level to stop the poaching of black bears.
While a bear in your backyard that refuses to leave is unlikely, you are breaking the law if you shoot it. In such an event, call the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission at 888-404-3922.