Bears Win!

June 23, 2016 Yesterday I spent 9 hours witnessing a public hearing held in Eastpoint, regarding a second hunt of Florida black bears. While it was in many ways a very anxious day for me, I was absorbed and impressed with the speakers (I was Speaker # 66 and there were several dozen more behind me). I didn’t anticipate our collective courage and brilliance. When I first made a pitch to this Commission, in 1984, regarding a nongame wildlife program … Continue

Bears on the Edge

Last week I went searching for evidence of Florida black bears down along our coast.  They are shy creatures, generally night-dwelling.  I always watch for them, though, and as the poet Mary Oliver says “…everywhere I look on the scratchy hillsides, shadows seem to grow shoulders.”   I walked in places I know they forage and walk.  I found acorns they hadn’t yet eaten on the side of the road.         I saw scat they had left in the … Continue