Bears Near I-75? (Ocala, Seminole, Clermont: houses, garden, move)

[A Little Hoarse]

I keep seeing enormous poops on my property. I looked them up on the web, and the closest thing I can find is bear poop. It's a lot like cow manure, but smaller.

I am over 10 miles from the Ocala National Forest, which is full of bears, so it seems strange to me to see these little presents here. I am wondering if other people have seen bears between Belleview and I-75.

[dontaskwhy]

Bears don't limit their range to just the Ocala National Forest. Generally speaking, the fear people and rarely come in to direct contact with man. With the never ending expansion of developments of residential communities the bears are constantly losing their homes.

[Corrie22]

"the bears are constantly losing their homes."

not true.....

The Florida bear population has gone from 2-300 bears....to over 5000 estimated in just a few years. There's over 20 million acres in Florida of government land that is set aside as habitat.
They are not losing their homes....they are attracted to people and garbage, etc like raccoons, opossums, and rats

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

"the bears are constantly losing their homes."

not true.....

The Florida bear population has gone from 2-300 bears....to over 5000 estimated in just a few years. There's over 20 million acres in Florida of government land that is set aside as habitat.
They are not losing their homes....they are attracted to people and garbage, etc like raccoons, opossums, and rats

Yup. There must be something tasty at Hoarse's place they're looking for. Either that, or his property is part of the highway to bear-food heaven. Hoarse, have you checked the scat to see what they're eating?

When I was a kid, my father had to build a bin with a hinged top to set the garbage cans in, so the raccoons wouldn't knock over the cans and scatter the garbage all over the place.

[dontaskwhy]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

"the bears are constantly losing their homes."

not true.....

The Florida bear population has gone from 2-300 bears....to over 5000 estimated in just a few years. There's over 20 million acres in Florida of government land that is set aside as habitat.
They are not losing their homes....they are attracted to people and garbage, etc like raccoons, opossums, and rats

Let me make this clear. I am referring to housing and commercial developments being built on previously forested areas which is where bears call home. Bears are not restricted from leaving the Ocala National Forest by being forced to wear ankle monitors. Last time I checked, bears don't observe property lines or read road signs nor can they be forced to. Last time I checked it is illegal for people to interfere with bears.

They have been in the area for much longer than man has. Even the Seminole Indians had learned to coexist long before us fine folk decided to civilize them and move the Indians to "Reservations" for their own good.

You are clearly deluded in your facts without looking at the long term, big picture.

[sasie123]

Originally Posted by dontaskwhy

Bears don't limit their range to just the Ocala National Forest. Generally speaking, the fear people and rarely come in to direct contact with man. With the never ending expansion of developments of residential communities the bears are constantly losing their homes.

This is the saddest part of expansion of developments of residential communities, wildlife looses lots of territory every day. Take a look at Highway 27 between 1-4 and Clermont, near Disney, the residential developments have destroyed myriad of trees, and houses and resorts are going up en mass. Multitude of acreage has become totally barren.

Does Florida have laws against environmental destruction?

[sasie123]

the same thing has happened. One goes down Route 1-9, by the northern part of Edison, and the deer come out into the streets, backyards, highways.......very, very sad.

[Corrie22]

"You are clearly deluded in your facts".............so having 20 times more bears..has nothing to do with it

..Nothing is good news to you people

[Corrie22]

"and the deer come out into the streets, backyards, highways.......very, very sad."

...and the Fliorida deer population has gone from 20,000 to 700,000.......more good news! That's 35 times more deer!

[kmarc]

Originally Posted by Corrie22

"and the deer come out into the streets, backyards, highways.......very, very sad."

...and the Fliorida deer population has gone from 20,000 to 700,000.......more good news! That's 35 times more deer!

Yah. Just ask the folks in New England what happened when they put a moratorium on deer hunting. The tick population also exploded and so did Lyme disease. And you couldn't have a garden in your backyard.

Back in the 1970s, they also put an end to seal hunting. Guess what? Along the New England shore, there are now seals that carpet some beaches from one end to the other. They stink to high heaven and the fishermen have to compete with the seals for food. Great white sharks cruise the water looking for seals to eat and if they can't find a seal, maybe a human will do, so some days you can't even swim during the summer. But they're so cute!

So is Bambi. Especially to people afflicted with Lyme disease who can't keep their balance and can barely drag themselves around.

That's utter BS about development, BTW. It's true that some animals lose habitat, but that has nothing to do with why they're on streets, highways, backyards and beaches. Their populations have exploded because they have no predators, although the seals are now attracting the sharks, whose populations are also exploding because of a more plentiful food source.