Sowal BlackBear

what area of Seagrove are you in?

West end is a far as I'll say. He needs his space.

black bear also spotted near blue mt.

My wife and I have seen a black bear at our house in Grayton Beach twice in the last two weeks.

Cool!!! Someone take a pic!!

G

We have a black bear, spotted last night, helping himself to the all-you-can-eat buffet of trash cans. every morning the cans are pulled out of their places and trash spread all over the yards. He likes to take our trash can from the front of the house to the back corner to snack! We've been advised by Dept. of Forestry to lock the trash cans up and don't set cans out until the morning of pick-up. The bear will get bored and move on. I haven't personally seen it yet, but a neighbor can face to face with it last night while walking the dog. I think both were scared enough... the bear ran up a tree!

Keep Ditka in your 'hood - don't send him over here. :shock: I knew there was a reason I don't like to go outside!!!

Black bears aren't usually aggressive, right? I'm planning on running on the Eastern Lake Trail in Pt. Washington State Forest during the mornings this weekend, and don't want to be involved in one of those "When Wild Animals Attack" incidents.

Ditka hit our trash can this week.

Ditka hit our trash can this week.

...was there a fumble?

Black bears aren't usually aggressive, right? I'm planning on running on the Eastern Lake Trail in Pt. Washington State Forest during the mornings this weekend, and don't want to be involved in one of those "When Wild Animals Attack" incidents.

Correct, black bears are not aggressive. I'd worry more about the wild pigs, if I were you, but that trail gets a lot of use. Runners, walkers with dogs, you should be fine.

i ran into a wild pig with her youngins on the trail i run this morning.
she was not happy!

Black bears aren't usually aggressive, right? I'm planning on running on the Eastern Lake Trail in Pt. Washington State Forest during the mornings this weekend, and don't want to be involved in one of those "When Wild Animals Attack" incidents.

You are right. Black Bears are not usually aggressive, unless you are running from them. Seriously. You don't want to run away from one, nor do you want to ever get between a mama and her cub.


I cannot promise you that you won't be attacked by a falling pine tree limb, black bear, florida panther, etc while running in the woods, but you are more likely to get hit by a car when you get back on the road. The woods are not that dangerous around here.

You are right. Black Bears are not usually aggressive, unless you are running from them. Seriously. You don't want to run away from one, nor do you want to ever get between a mama and her cub.


I cannot promise you that you won't be attacked by a falling pine tree limb, black bear, florida panther, etc while running in the woods, but you are more likely to get hit by a car when you get back on the road. The woods are not that dangerous around here.

Thanks for the feedback, Smiling JOe and NotDeadYet. I just hope one of these black bears don't perceive me to be running "away" from them if they see me. Regarding the local panthers, I thought they were deemed a myth, but I had also heard reports of them around the Bay and around Eglin. Anyone ever seen one around here?

no reported panthers around here, but reports of big cats like the Jaqurundi (sp?), which are slightly larger than a bobcat. I wouldn't be concerned.

Bears don't want anything to do with people around here, yet. Why do you think that you haven't seen any photos of the bears in SoWal? They fear their safety. Man=threat.

I believe I saw a panther about 10 years ago down here. Big cat long tail and small head at night in the fog. SJ is correct cars are way more dangerous than anything else down here. Snakes I think are your big concern when running in the woods here. Seen bobcats and a red fox( not Redd Foxx) or red wolf not sure. Great diversity of wildlife here, I'm constantly amazed by it.

i ran into a wild pig with her youngins on the trail i run this morning.
she was not happy!

What trail were you on when you saw the pig?

I believe I saw a panther about 10 years ago down here. Big cat long tail and small head at night in the fog. SJ is correct cars are way more dangerous than anything else down here. Snakes I think are your big concern when running in the woods here. Seen bobcats and a red fox( not Redd Foxx) or red wolf not sure. Great diversity of wildlife here, I'm constantly amazed by it.

I saw a red fox in Seagrove a couple days ago. It was defintely a fox. I did see the red wolf video and it was not a red wolf. It was beautiful, bright red and the largest fox I have ever seen. He was not the faded our or brownish red looking fox. He had a long, bushy tail. It was exciting.

I've been around here a long time and have never heard of a bear sighting before now. And, if they have figured out that garbage cans mean food, that's not too cool.

The black bear population on Eglin Reservation seems to have exploded in recent years, and there have been a lot more bear-human interactions within a couple of blocks of the reservation boundary than there used to be, especially between Niceville and Navarre. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if you had them hoofing it south on 331 under cover of darkness in search of more territory, and there is a lot of conservation in SoWal that makes for good bear habitat. (Topsail Hill, Point Washington SF)

I know this link has been pasted here before in other threads, but it's worth another look, or a first look if you haven't seen it yet.
Nokuse Plantation
Check out the maps, and the goals. The Florida black bear is an "umbrella species." They need a lot of room to roam, and Nokuse links up large areas of bear habitat. This site also has lots of cool info on other wildlife and plants and the panhandle ecosystem.