25 thoughts on “#NotesFromTheRiver – Florida Black Bear”

    • I have trouble commenting from there, too, and almost always have to approve anyone commenting. It’s not my website, and the designer used Joomla to build it. I don’t find it very user-friendly, and I apologize for those who have trouble commenting there. Thanks for trying, though. 🙂 Sometimes it works, and sometimes not so much. 😦

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    • Yes. Brown bears (the species, not the color, which can be variable) live much farther west. We have two in the U. S. The coastal brown bear and the grizzly. Both are much larger than our black bears, and I believe they are far more dangerous. Certainly, they scare ME, that’s for sure. Grizzlies are a formidable animal and I believe they are much more unpredictable than our eastern black bears. Glad you thought the post was interesting, Mary. I SO enjoy doing these for Doug’s site. 🙂

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  3. When I visited Slovakia a few years ago we were desperate to see a brown bear (despite people saying we really didn’t!). Although there was a lot of evidence that the bears were coming into the village looking for food – claw marks on the wheelie bins which had to be padlocked – the only one we saw was dead and stuffed in a natural history museum. Your black bears sound a little less frightening.

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    • I’m not an expert on bears, but I believe the our brown bears are a subspecies of the European brown bear, and from what I’ve read, brown bears–grizzlies, in particular–are far more likely to be aggressive than our black bears. Plus the size difference is intimidating. Average male grizzly bears can way up to 790 pounds. That’s almost double what the average male Florida black bear weighs. I would never have the nerve to camp in a tent out west. I’m not even sure I’d camp in an RV. I have visions of grizzlies trying to break in!

      Black bears would really rather not have a confrontation, unless they feel threatened. And before we started building subdivisions right in the middle of their foraging grounds, interaction between humans and black bears were not so very common. So, all in all, I think black bears are far less frightening, though I’d recommend giving them plenty of room, and avoiding contact when possible.

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    • Glad you enjoyed it, Mae! Hopefully, your “heebie-jeebies” will be less severe. But I don’t blame you for not wanting any face to face confrontations. Me, neither. 😀 And I answered your comment. Thanks for leaving one. I know it isn’t always easy to do so on that blog, and I wish I could fix that.

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  5. A beary pleasing post, Marcia. I do love those photos, though I feel for the people who have bears using their pools – I understand its almost impossible to get them truly clean after.
    We did a long touring holiday in Canada a few years ago, and I saw almost every type of wildlife on my ‘to see’ list, apart from bears. Like you, I caught just a glimpse of one as our coach drove through woodland, but by the time we’d reversed, it was gone. I was puzzled by that glimpse, but after chatting with our local guide, the strange colour of this particular one meant it was actually quite a rare bear – a cinnamon bear – so I have to be content with that brief glimpse.

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    • I’ve never heard of anyone having trouble cleaning up their pools. I think we may have industrial strength pool cleaning systems around these parts. 😀 What I’d hate is having to replace the ripped out screen! That would get old in a hurry. Black bears are variable in color (as you can tell from the one scratching his back on the pine tree) but probably not nearly as much as brown bears. A cinnamon coloring would be pretty cool to see.

      I tell you, though, I’d almost just as soon have bears traipsing about as raccoons. They are cute, but OMG, are they ever destructive little blighters. And they are NOT afraid of you. They’ve torn Nicki’s little fishpond apart so many times, she’s about given up on it. I just have squirrels here, but they are bad enough. I consider them minions of Satan. They eat holes in my screen and come onto my back porch, looking for the bins of birdseed. I had to move it all. And trying to keep them out of the feeders is impossible. They’ve outsmarted every guaranteed squirrel-proof feeder I’ve ever tried, and can get over or around most baffles. They are too smart for their own good!

      Ahhh. Wildlife. So wonderful. Until it isn’t. 😀

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      • We have foxes for that challenge – they are so comfortable around people now there have been incidences of them coming indoors, and a couple of children have been bitten in their own beds.
        As you say – wonderful wildlife, until it isn’t.

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        • There’s the problem. Wild animals that get used to humans lose their fear of us, and become problematic. And any wild animal can bite. Even squirrels. 🙂 Foxes waltzing into homes is a scary thought. Not quite as intimidating as raccoons, due to the heft and weaponry of those. (They almost have opposing thumbs, and can open doors and cabinets. And when cornered raccoons are fearsome.) I don’t think I’d care for ANY wild animal in my house. That’s when they’ve crossed over to The Dark Side! 😯

          Sadly, most problems like this are our own fault. 😦

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  6. Wow this was fascinating. First I’ll say some of those photos were so funny, and next, I can’t believe the baby bears are that small. And now I’ll ask, is it the brown bears that are the dangerous ones? 🙂

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    • Glad you enjoyed it, Deb. The bear in the hammock just kills me! And baby bears are tiny, tiny, tiny.

      Any bear is potentially dangerous, but the brown bears, which include grizzlies, are (from my understanding) much more likely to be aggressive with humans. There was a news report this week of some young hikers being mauled by a grizzly, but again, she was a mother with cubs, and I’m sure she was in full defense mode. Black bears will become aggressive in those circumstances, too.

      I think the biggest reason brown bears are so much more dangerous, though, is the sheer size of them. The average brown bear is double the weight of the average black bear.

      Personally, I don’t think I could bring myself to camp in brown bear territory, and Mark and I have camped in the deep woods of Florida many, many times. We would often hike way into the woods to set up our tent. While I wouldn’t have wanted to have a black bear visit in the night, I was never too scared to pitch that tent. Out west? Forget about it. I’d want Chuck Norris with a flame thrower standing guard. 😯 😀

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      • Lollllllllll you crack me up! Holy moly, brown bears are twice the size????? That’s frightening! And you’re braver than I my friend. You couldn’t pay me to camp (once was enough), let alone with bears – brown, black, purple or otherwise! LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL 🙂 🙂

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        • Oh, I LOVE camping. I’d live right in the middle of the woods, if I could. My dream home would be Sarah’s cabin in WRR, on 5 wooded acres, with a stream across the back, and nobody else on the mountain but MacKenzie Cole on his 25 acres across the road. 😀 Woods, without the long hike. Animals galore. A STREAM. And green, green, green everywhere. Heaven!

          Brown bears do weigh twice as much as our black bears, and they are larger, overall, but not twice as tall. Just much more massive. With larger heads. They scare me, for sure, and I’m fairly fearless about most wildlife. I don’t want to run into any bear while hiking, but coming face to face with a brown bear would probably put me straight into cardiac arrest. 😯 😯 😯

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  8. Pingback: #NotesFromTheRiver – Florida Black Bear — The Write Stuff – Judi Ali

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