Florida Bear Hunt....Thoughts?

[Urufu_Shinjiro]

What I meant to imply with my last post was that they are currently being driving into neighborhoods because food in their natural areas are getting scarce due to the large bear population. Reduce the population some and the resources in the forests they prefer will be plentiful again. Not to mention they may avoid a more severe backlash from increased maulings...

[DC]

I agree with your sentiment but it sounds like you're saying that we can save them from starving etc. by killing them. I suppose one might be a better death. The fact remains that as long as humans are involved the bears will come out second best. Nothing we can do about that. It will sort itself out when humans extinct themselves.

[willie]

please understand that my asking that question was playing a bit of the devils advocate, and If some of my points of view seem contrary, I wish it to be known that I am questioning what seems (to me anyways) to be questionable ideas, and most assuredly not directed personally and any of the esteemed forumites voicing their opposing views.

That said, some of the ideas I have heard presented, justifying the hunt, are what I would call the "redneck knee jerk" retorts to the "bleeding hearts" emo bs.  By that I mean, a little more thoughtfulness about the complexities of co-existing with our fellow species would be useful.

Sorry Urufu, but this subject is a can of worms whether we like it or not.

Jo jo. I am not to convinced. I am not a wayward yearling bear, but I could imagine that getting flattened by a dodge would be just as stressful as being gobbled by a gator. The points of the arguments that keeps me wondering is,..

If we often find the antis views a bit hard to swallow because of their propensity to worship critters and trees and such, are we not just as radical when we say "we neeed to kill you for your own good"

willie

btw,  do bears eat wild pigs and those nasty dillas in florida?

DC- you posted while I was composing, but I gotta ask, do you really think that that bears will be here after we are gone?

[JoJoDapyro]

A good discussion is always welcomed with me. It does seem like I am saying that we will save them by killing them. The truth of the matter is that it is the bears will be better off if their numbers aren't allowed to get too large. There is the public to fear. How many kids would have to be dragged from tents before people really start to freak out? My thought is keep the population in control so they don't take to dragging kids off in the night. Avoid the knee jerk reactions from the public that would then demand action be taken, and the offending bear (or several if they can't find the ONE) killed anyway.

I don't hunt bears. They remind me a bit too much of dogs to be able to shoot them. I haven't shot an animal for about 10 years.

If I was a burden on society, or say I was living off of stealing from others or vandalizing, terrorizing or some other way that society deems uncivilized I would be at the least incarcerated. If I were a danger to society, and couldn't be swayed from my ways, then it very well could be the best thing to take me out to the woods and put me down.

[willie]

I guess we need to separate the occasional reaction from a surprised human (who may have in some unintentional way encouraged a bear to be somewhere he is not wanted), and dragging kiddies out of tents scenario.

When in their territory, take precautions just like you would on the wrong side of town. And when in yours, do what you can to not attract them,

I find that bears by nature are usually reclusive. Its the park thing where the "kids getting dragged out of tents" happens. Some how the managers want to believe that they can preserve the bears from us humans, and create a park  where we can go see the bears, and all should work out well, except this is a bit much for a bear to actually understand.

They don't need to be put down because they never entered into the social contract. I wish more people could accept the world they live in for what it is, rather than expecting someone else to change it to fit their comfort.

[JoJoDapyro]

I am all for letting animals run wild. If you get eaten by a bear because you didn't take precautions that is on you. But sadly, when a bear won't stop taking advantage of stupid humans there is only one thing that is gonna happen, and it never ends good for the bear.

[Pappy]

  I best stay out of this one. Thanks for playing nice guys. Pappy

[JoJoDapyro]

I best stay out of this one. Thanks for playing nice guys. Pappy

Opinions are like... Well, we all know. I am no more right than anyone else. No need to get upset that someone doesn't agree with me. I'm married, I'm used to it 

[DC]

DC- you posted while I was composing, but I gotta ask, do you really think that that bears will be here after we are gone?

Obviously that depends on the nature of our leaving but yeah I do. Look how life has bounced back at Chernobyl. To many of anything is a bad thing and the worst is us. Because we are dominant everything has to make room for us. That's not going to change. Mother Nature had established a very workable system and then we came along and messed it up.

[mullet]

Yea, the Bears will be drinking out of the same ditch the gators are swimming in when we're gone.
The Vegan Secretary at work went on a rant today about the hunt and I enjoy messing with her. She was moaning about the poor baby bears that don't have a Momma, now. I told her if they let you take the Mom and the cubs the quota would have been filled quicker and stopping the hunt faster, of course, I was just kidding. Almost all of the cubs this time of year are weaned and can survive on their own unless a Panther or Bear Boar eats them.

 And from what I read the hunt was stopped on Sunday, the second day at 298 bears checked in with a quota limit goal of 325 bears that had to be at least 100#, so I don't know how anybody could justify at the Check Station a cub was a 100#. The FWC has no problem writing a citation down here.
 And as far as benefiting the bear, maybe now when some see a human he will run instead of seeing if you have a cookie. My hunt buddy lives in Ocala Nat. Forest and it was nothing to be watching TV and look up to see a couple of bears with their noses pressed to the glass sliding doors looking for food.

I talked to several Biologist with the FWC ad they said two years ago there was no place to drop nuisance bears, every national forest in this state was full. The shortness of this hunt proved that, no bait allowed or dogs, just spot and stalk.

[willie]

Jo Jo

and it never ends good for the bear

sad but true


DC

Mother nature still has a very workable system, and once we are gone, I think our passing will seem like just another blip on the radar

[mullet]

And willie you asked what these Bears eat down here. Their primary food this time of year is acorns in the Water Oak trees. They will stand on 4" limbs and pull and break the tops over to eat the acorns. These trees average around 50' high and when they get through it looks like a tornado passed over. And they also love Palmetto Berries if they can beat the  Day Labor people and Migrant workers to them since they are wiping the berries out for the price of beer for cancer cures. Then they move on to your poodle and garbage can, your bag of dog food after they rip your garage door open to get it and I am pretty sure this year alone 4 ladies were attacked in separate incidents on jogging trails. On the hunting lease I was on we had to switch to expensive soy beans in feeders because if you ran corn your feeder was gone the next day.
At the Florida State TBOF shoot last year a Sow and two cubs destroyed our cook area and turned over and scattered every garbage can in the camping area. There are so many of them I don't think they have the food resources with out moving into the residential areas to survive. Unfortunately and I'm like the bears, I wish all of you guys would quit moving here and then there would be more habitat for them to live in. The area around Disney was prime Bear country in the 60's and 70's when old Walt started bulldozing and filling in swamps. But, hey, not much you can do about it now but try to control both populations.