Bear Facts On State's Elusive Residents

NEW PORT RICHEY - Before Europeans settled the peninsula, black bears roamed throughout mainland Florida, as well as some coastal islands and larger keys.

These days a wild bear is a rare sight: An estimated 1,000 to 1,500 live in Florida, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

Here's a primer on the state's largest land mammal, based on information from www.swfwmd.state.fl.us and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's bear home page, myfwc.com/bear/bearfacts.htm.

NO GRIZZLIES HERE: All wild bears in the state are Florida black bears, with black fur and brown muzzles. They are one of three distinct subspecies of the American black bear recognized in the Southeastern United States. Black bears originated in North America and have been here at least 1.5 million years.

Today, black bears can be found in the Chassahowitzka Swamp and neighboring coastal wildlife refuges in Pasco, Hernando and Citrus counties. Larger populations live in the Ocala National Forest, Big Cypress Swamp and other protected wilderness areas.

Like all other bears, the Floridians are large and powerful mammals, with rounded ears, short tails, five-toed feet and large canine teeth. Black bears walk flat on their feet - like people - and shuffle along, but they're not slow. They can run up to 30 mph and are very good tree climbers.

MA, PA AND THE CUBS: Baby bears are called cubs and stay with their mothers until the summer of their second year. Adult males tilt the scales at between 250 and 450 pounds, while the females weigh 125 to 250 pounds.

WHO YOU CALLING AN OMNIVORE? Black bears are omnivores because they eat plant and animal matter, mainly acorns, nuts, berries and other vegetation, as well as insects. A small percentage of their diet is meat, which they most often scavenge. Because of Florida's diverse habitats, bears' diets vary from one part of the state to another.

HE KEPT TO HIMSELF, MOSTLY: Bears are solitary by nature, unless it's mating season or they have cubs. Bears do gather in areas where food is plentiful, such as oak groves or berry patches. But don't think it's because they enjoy the company. These groupings happen more often than not because one bear isn't capable of chasing off competitors.

A group of bears is called a "sleuth" or a "sloth," derived from Middle English for "slow."

Bears generally don't battle over who's the boss of a particular chunk of the woods. The area they wander in search of food, water and a tree canopy is called a home range. The size of that area may vary from year to year depending on population density, food availability and a bear's gender, age and reproductive status.

When water and forest nuts are scarce, bears will venture into new areas. In Florida, male bears typically have home ranges of 50 to 120 square miles, while female bears generally roam from 10 to 25 square miles.

SEE, SNIFF, STAND: Black bears actually have pretty decent eyesight, maybe even as good as people, and their hearing far surpasses everyone. Their sense of smell is off the charts, too.

When black bears see a man, woman or child, they often sniff a lot and may stand up. But they're not being big and bad; they're just trying to get a better look and smell. . And when they don't want trouble, and they opt not to run away, bears will avoid looking a person (or another bear) directly in the eye. When they take a quick glance and turn away, don't think you've blended in with the trees and bushes.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Bears have a knack for making like a four-legged GPS and finding their way home from places they've never been before. Nuisance bears have returned to their home range after being relocated up to 168 miles. There are limits to their homing talents. Bears taken from Minnesota to Arkansas (roughly 870 miles) walked every which way when they were released.

A SLUG IN WINTER: Most black bears don't go into caves and hibernate until spring, but they do slow down like someone who ate too much at a holiday dinner. When bears do it, it's called "winter lethargy" and it has as much to do with the availability of food - mainly the lack thereof - as it has to do with lower temperatures. Bears from North Carolina south to Louisiana are lighter sleepers than their cold-climate cousins.

Male bears, and females who aren't pregnant, may hunker down in dense vegetation for only a few weeks or a month. Mothers-to-be, though, will snuggle in for the entire winter, usually in better protected places like tree cavities, under fallen logs or in dense thickets.

THE CYCLE OF LIFE: The breeding season for black bears runs from June to July; cubs are born in late January to early February, meaning mamas carry them for about seven months.

The experts aren't sure just how long the average bear lives in the wild, but they are considered old once they hit 15. In zoos, though, bears have lived into their 30s. Adult black bears have no predators besides people and other bears, but they do die from plenty of other causes, such as old age, drowning, den cave-ins, hypothermia from flooded dens, starvation, falling from trees, infections and encounters with cars.

About 25 percent to 50 percent of wild bears never see their first birthday, while some 23 percent won't make it to their second (when they're called yearlings.) And because young males go farther from home in search of food and dens, about 46 percent will die before adulthood. Females hang out closer to their mothers, so about 20 percent don't live to adulthood.

Officials eliminated the hunting season for bears statewide in 1994.

HIKERS AND CAMPERS AND ... BEARS! If you do see a bear, leave it alone, watch it from a safe distance and let it go about its business. Most of the time, bears sense you and sneak away before you know they are there. While there are no documented bear attacks in Florida, black bears have attacked people in other states. There truly is no such thing as a free lunch for bears. Trouble usually follows when they mooch handouts or raid trash cans.

THIS IS CHILD'S PLAY: Go to myfwc.com/bear/educators .htm and download The Florida Black Bear Activity Guide, which offers games, puzzles, lessons and a section about safety in bear country called "Be Bear Aware."

Annette Mardis

THE BEAR NECESSITIES

Do bears live in the wilds of Pasco County? Are there any in Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park?

Find out at 7 p.m. Wednesday when Mary Barnwell of the Southwest Florida Water Management District presents, "Where are the Bears?"

The free program, open to all ages, will be offered in the Environmental Education Center at Starkey Park, 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd., just east of Timber Greens Country Club in New Port Richey.

To reach the park from State Road 54, go north on Little Road for 2.2 miles, right on River Crossing Boulevard for 1.3 miles, left on Starkey Boulevard for three-tenths of a mile, then right on Wilderness Road. From State Road 52, go south on Moon Lake Road for 6.8 miles, left on DeCubellis Road for three-tenths of a mile, then left on Wilderness Road into the park.

For details, call (727) 834-3474.