As we continue to cause environmental changes----(e.g.land conversion, weather changes, garbage left outside) the animals and plants that we share the globe with are either going to adapt or perish...........The Black Bears in Florida are responding to "easy pickings" from careless human garbage disposal by not hibernating.................."A fed bear ends up a dead bear" all too often as they take undue chances around human settlement----leads Conservation Officers to relieve the problem with deadly force.........Our Communities need to get the word out on how and when to properly take out their weekly garbage.........good for the Bears,,,,,,,,,,good for us

Central Florida Bear Complaints Triple in December - WMFE 90.7

Central Florida Bear Complaints Triple in December
Friday, January 10, 2014 
By: Nicole Creston

January 10th, 2014 | WMFE - Central Florida black bears are not hibernating like they used to, according to new numbers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

• The FWC reports more than 500 calls in December from Central Florida residents describing run-ins with bears. That’s triple the usual number for this time of year.

FWC bear biologist Mike Orlando says the December 2^nd bear attack of Longwood resident Susan Chalfant influenced the high number of calls, but that's not the whole story.

“With the awareness that that bear incident brought to the general public through all sorts of media, we definitely had a spike in calls for the month of December,” says Orlando. “But that doesn’t specifically explain the trend upwards over the past few years.”

Orlando says bears are less inclined to hibernate if there’s food around, and they’re finding plenty to eat in trash cans and dog bowls that people leave outside their homes. He recommends keeping those items inside as much as possible.