Had an interesting nighttime visitor last night. Heard a little sound and went to look out the back door to find a black bear helping himself to the safflower seeds in the feeder!!! He was about 15 feet away from me at the time, but with the window/wall between us. We've suspected them a couple of time before in years past, but this is the first time we've seen one.

Needless to say, the feeders will come down by dark for a while. I don't mind the visit, but I don't want to set out a buffet.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Florida Farm Girl,

Isn't it just bizarre to see them, when you don't expect to?
Your mind goes, "Oh, that's a bear" then it morphs to "OH MG...THAT IS A BEAR!!!!!"
LOL!

It has happened to me in our mountain neighborhood, but all of the big hairy folk are hibernating there now.

Wow for sure FFG! Stay safe! Get pics! LOL

All I gotta say is YIKES!

What great pics! Thanks for sharing them with us.

YIKES!!! is right. don't blame you for taking in the feeders for a while...good idea.

That's the best place to be with a wall/window between you and the bear! I usually run out to get a quick pic when I see one and ready to get back in the house quickly. I wouldn't do that at night tho.

FFG - that is totally amazing! WoW is correct. I'm glad he ran off, otherwise, you might have been supper.

PS - love that porch too...wish it were mine.

ve

Guess what?? He came back about a week ago. I just haven't said anything. I didn't actually see him this time but did see the residual damage to a different bird feeder the next morning.

The first shows how it was strung out.

This one shows how the pole was damaged.

Oh, and he also tipped the concrete birdbath lopsided.

Your post will make me think twice about going out after to dark to empty table scraps. We have had a few bear sightings along our rural highway. Everyone around here say they are Florida bears moving up this way because of all the wildfires down your way in recent years.

Looks like your guest got a bit wild!

Georgia Peach, I don't know exactly where you are, but there's a very healthy population of black bears in north Georgia. If you're south, then they might be moving toward the Okefenokee area due to fires. Who knows.

FFG, I'm nearer the coast (Savannah area). I've always heard they were coming up from Florida. I know ya'll sent us the armadillos

quote:

Originally posted by Georgia Peach:
FFG, I'm nearer the coast (Savannah area). I've always heard they were coming up from Florida. I know ya'll sent us the armadillos

I think they sent us the fire ants too!

FFG, I think your visitor is getting TOO friendly! Have you called anyone?...like animal control?...or some state agency like maybe the park service? I know our park service will sometimes trap animals to put them in safer areas...safer for the animals.

Ga.Peach, there are bears in this area too. I've just never seen one but several of the plantations around here have them living on their acreage.

The Wildlife Commission does trap nuisance bears but so long as he doesn't cause any real damage or become a danger to a person, I'm going to let them be.

I grew up here in NW Florida and never heard of a bear in the area. Of course, at that time most folks who hunted did so with dogs and that may have moved them to more protected areas. Even now, my brother who still lives near where we grew up doesn't ever mention them being around. Turkeys have become quite plentiful up there, though.

FFG, I wonder if we haven't always had bears in this area but with land development they are being pushed out of their habitat. In northwest Fl, which I am thinking panhandle, maybe it's because of the recent hurricanes along the Gulf Coast that's causing their migrations. We also have an abundance of turkey which wasn't the case until the last few years. They seem to be staying close by the creeks in our area.

WoW, that is awesome and scary. I find it strange that you have bears while here in the foothills of the Apps. we don't. That's ok..you can keep them. .

Coyotes and wild turkey are our nuisance wildlife here.


ve

We have gopher tortoise!

Bears are around. Turkeys are down the road. Deer are all over. Foxes across the road. Wild hogs here/there. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, possum & armadillos...all over!
And those armadillos can sure tear up a flower bed...dig all through it!

Peach, you may be right. Habitat loss is the primary reason for most wildlife/human conflicts.

Karen, I hate those armadillos, too. They were awful up at the farm where Mama lived. I haven't seen one here at my house, thankfully. But I bet there are some around.

VE, don't you probably have them but they are able to hide in the mountains?

They're spotted here VERY seldom so it's not like they are running around our yards like at FFG's. We do have the coyotes, armadillos, foxes, turkeys, opossum, and deer (lots of deer!) AND my least favorite rattlesnakes. Our warm days this past week have brought them out according to the deer hunters in our area.

quote:

Originally posted by ga.karen:
We have gopher tortoise!

Bears are around. Turkeys are down the road. Deer are all over. Foxes across the road. Wild hogs here/there. Squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, possum & armadillos...all over!
And those armadillos can sure tear up a flower bed...dig all through it!

I have the same animals on the property, except for the bear. We've been here 10 years now and I have yet to see a black bear. Even though there are sightings on the west side of the county all the time. Saw a coyote twice recently. I love our wildlife and yes there are things to deal with, but it's better than living in the city!

In the mountains, We have all the animals that I love to see, and none that I don't. In the neighborhood, we have Black bear (summers only), elk, deer, bobcat, mountain lion (occasionally), coyote, fox, beaver, badgers, owls, ravens, hawks (and an occasional moose and bald eagles near the lake/golf course)
No rattlesnakes, no skunks, and last but not least...no mosquitoes so we can enjoy the outdoors here in the summer.

FFG your pic certainly shows the strength of these animals. One morning DH called me to see what a bear had done to my compost. I had tied 4 pallets together with binder twine and the bear had tossed them to get at the compost. Now, it was all I could have done to have untied them and moved one at a time but he had flipped all four, still tied together. I think it's called 'brute strength' and is scary to contemplate.

We have all the same animals Conrad mentioned altho I now know that bears do not consistently sleep all winter. A couple years ago I had stopped on our private road for some reason and right nearby was a set of bear tracks. I've heard since that they will awaken if the weather is mild and they feel hungry. They feed and go back to their den to sleep. So I am now vigilant year round as don't want a 'close encounter' with something that primitive and strong.

I do love seeing them and was thinking about how many I've seen here. Five times I've seen bears crossing the highway or my private road, twice I've seen paw prints in my compost, and I've seen them in my yard 3 times. That's not a lot in over 20 years but considering that a bear's territory might be 1 - 10 square miles each it's a wonder we see them at all. This last year I didn't see any but my neighbor saw one on the far end of my property so they are here.

Whenever I go outside I always shout out so any lurking bears will know I am there. Surprising them is when problems occur. I also almost always carry a bear banger when away from my house yard, just in case.

We have beaver in the area too. I forgot about them. Most land owners won't tell anyone cause there are so many around here that would hunt them...permission or not!

quote:

but it's better than living in the city!

ABSOLUTELY! Wouldn't trade it for anything!

Heck, I'd like to actually live out in the country instead of this glorified subdivision.