A Fed Bear Is A Dead Bear

A young Black Bear
Picture credit: hans-stieglitz

Once again this morning, I had not intended to write, but once again it was not to be.

This state has a pretty poor record, in my eyes, when it comes to “nuisance, (their word not mine) anything.”

Nearly every day in our local news, there is another story of a wild animal who has caused a problem and has been killed.

Today, yet another Black Bear has stepped across that magical, mythical line set up by those in charge and he has paid for his indiscretions with his life: Black Bear Euthanized

He was ” euthanized,” what a deceitful word that is, why do they dare not speak the truth, they killed him.

Our Florida Black Bears are normally shy, reclusive, omnivores (which means that they will eat most anything) and there has never been an incidence of one attacking a human here.

The ones who end up on the Orlando news are usually at the top of a tree, waiting for the people, the cameras and the noise to leave, so that they can come down and go about their business.

Perhaps if I had not lived for so many years in a place like California, where wild things are now pretty much coveted, it would not be so hard to live here in Florida, the wildlife hunting capital of the South.

To be completely fair, it was not always so animal friendly in California, in the historical past, many wild animals were hunted and killed, which is why today, there are so few of them left and people have reversed their thinking and now go out of their way to protect them.

Florida seems to have such a low tolerance level for wild things that bring attention to themselves.

The place where this bear was killed is in an upscale place on Florida’s West or Gulf Coast,

called Naples, I know this only because one of my Aunts lives there and she has commented on the kind of people who call it home.

Some of the very wealthy residents of Naples, like others of Florida’s affluent resort areas, only live here part of the year and they don’t care much for having wild things roaming around in their neighborhoods and want to be assured that everything is “ under control. ”

And as is usually the case with a wild animal here, “ under control ” means dead.

We did have a large gorgeous Black Bear here in our little corner of the world that was recently caught and relocated:  Massive Black Bear Relocated

So, the lesson learned here is a bitter one, indeed.

Any animal, wild or otherwise, will remain where a food supply is constant and it was surmised by the authorities, that someone was feeding this young Black Bear.

As the FWS officer who ended this bear’s life quite accurately pointed out, ” a fed bear is a dead bear.”

The reminders about “bear safety” are on the news here constantly and wouldn’t you think after witnessing enough of these sad “euthanizations “ on TV, that people would eventually get it?

If we eliminate their food source, the Bears won’t come.

So, this little, young bear is gone, he is dead and will not, as has often been done in the past, be relocated up to where we are in the Ocala Forest, because he might repeat his most ”offensive actions.”

If only our Florida wildlife got as many second chances, as the criminals here who repeatedly commit the same crimes and continue to go free.

Perhaps there should be a separate justice system for our criminal wildlife?