Florida Black Bear

Danger floof, Ursus americanus floridanus

Florida’s largest native land mammal.

And the only bear found in Florida!
No grizzlies here.

Just some grizzly Florida men. But that’s a different story.

Black Bears have five toes per foot, have fuzzy muzzles
and love large amounts of calories.

They can eat 5,000 calories a day!

But that’s nothin’ compared to the fall season
when they eat for 18 hours a day to really pack on the pounds in preparation for winter.

That’s more like 20,000 calories a day. Basically the equivalent of 100 doughnuts.

But they’re obviously not sustaining themselves on only doughnuts. They’re opportunistic omnivores
with a taste for whatever is around.

Their diet is more like 80% plants,
15% insects, 5% animal, 0% doughnut.

Unless they got into someone’s trash. More on that later.

They have excellent (nearsighted) eyesight and
hearing, and a sense of smell that can detect
food more than a mile away.

They’re also expert tree climbers, fast runners
(for short distances) and pretty good swimmers.

They can outrun Florida Man to a box of doughnuts
by 20 mph at least, so don’t even try it, dude.

They’re pretty shy, reclusive and usually solitary,
unless they have cubs or its mating season.

Communication with each other is through
vocalization, body language and scent marking.

Again, not much different than Florida Man.

They’re not super territorial and don’t usually bother
defending their range from other bears. Unless, they discover a food source worth defending.
(Like doughnuts.)

Adult males will travel 120 square miles in search of mates and food.

But due to human development they now only have
45% of their original range to explore. Making life hard and dangerous for modern day Florida bears.

Before European settlement it is estimated that 11,000-12,000 bears lived in Florida and roamed the whole state.
Even into Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.

But in the mid 20th century Florida lost more than
7 million acres of forests and wetlands to development, leaving habitat fragmented into 8 isolated populations
for the estimated 3,000-4,000 bears left in the wild.

It is critical that we keep and create more
connected wildlife corridors that will link bears with appropriate food sources and help prevent genetic isolation problems.

As we destroy native habitats, bears move into
our neighborhoods. There are 1.3 million households
in bear country. And bears LOVE unsecured trash,
pet food, bird seed and unkept BBQs. Attracting them to
our yards where they can become dependent on human food sources and too comfortable around us.

Pair that with genetic mutations due to isolation?

Genetically derpy bears addicted to trash can doughnuts is NOT a good thing for anyone.

Bear-proof trash cans, smart home maintenance
and proper waste disposal keep bears in their natural environments and off our streets. When available, that’s where they prefer to be anyway.

Away from Florida man and cars too, which kill more
bears than anything. Bummer for bears and people.

Protecting and expanding bear territory is obviously
good for bears and for other species, too.

Many endangered plants and animals like orchids,
pitcher plants, Florida scrub jays, gopher tortoises
and Eastern indigo snakes share bear territory
and would disappear without conservation, interrupting integral parts of an intact Florida ecosystem. Which would also be a bummer.

Plus, conservation land provides natural protection
from flooding, erosion and storms, protecting our homes AND our doughnut shops too.

So it’s good for people as well!

Conclusion: Bears are cool

Bear Conservation= Good for all No Bear Conservation= Bummer for all

Things you can do to help bears:

Practice Bear Safe Behavior
Protest Bear Hunts
Support Conservation and Wildlife Corridor Efforts
Respect and Love our Bears from a Safe Distance
Don't feed them Trashcan Donuts

References:
https://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_black_bear
https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/united-states/florida/stories-in-florida/protecting-floridas-black-bears/
https://www.floridabear.org/lesson-ten-oh-where-oh-where-is-the-florida-black-bear.html
https://floridawildlifefederation.org/florida-black-bear/
Special thanks to Jay Exum, Ph.D. Wildlife Ecology for his expert fact checking!

Florida Black Bear

Danger floof, Ursus americanus floridanus

Florida’s largest native land mammal. And the only bear found in Florida! No grizzlies here. Just some grizzly Florida men. But that’s a different story.

But they’re obviously not sustaining themselves on only doughnuts. They’re opportunistic omnivores with a taste for whatever is around. Their diet is more like 80% plants, 15% insects, 5% animal, 0% doughnut. Unless they got into someone’s trash. More on that later.

They’re pretty shy, reclusive and usually solitary, unless they have cubs or its mating season. Communication with each other is through vocalization, body language and scent marking. Again, not much different than Florida Man.

They’re not super territorial and don’t usually bother defending their range from other bears. Unless, they discover a food source worth defending. (Like doughnuts.)

Adult males will travel 120 square miles in search of mates and food.

But due to human development they now only have 45% of their original range to explore. Making life hard and dangerous for modern day Florida bears.

It is critical that we keep and create more connected wildlife corridors that will link bears with appropriate food sources and help prevent genetic isolation problems.

Bear-proof trash cans, smart home maintenance and proper waste disposal keep bears in their natural environments and off our streets. When available, that’s where they prefer to be anyway. Away from Florida man and cars too, which kill more bears than anything. Bummer for bears and people.

Plus, conservation land provides natural protection from flooding, erosion and storms, protecting our homes AND our doughnut shops too.

So it’s good for people as well!

Conclusion: Bears are cool Bear Conservation= Good for all No Bear Conservation= Bummer for all

Things you can do to help bears:

Practice Bear Safe Behavior

Protest Bear Hunts

Support Conservation and Wildlife Corridor Efforts

Respect and Love our Bears from a Safe Distance

Don't feed them Trashcan Donuts

Florida’s largest native land mammal.

And the only bear found in Florida!
No grizzlies here.

Just some grizzly Florida men. But that’s a different story.

But they’re obviously not sustaining themselves on only doughnuts. They’re opportunistic omnivores
with a taste for whatever is around.

Their diet is more like 80% plants,
15% insects, 5% animal, 0% doughnut.

Unless they got into someone’s trash. More on that later.

They’re pretty shy, reclusive and usually solitary,
unless they have cubs or its mating season.

Communication with each other is through
vocalization, body language and scent marking.

Again, not much different than Florida Man.

They’re not super territorial and don’t usually bother
defending their range from other bears. Unless, they discover a food source worth defending.
(Like doughnuts.)

But due to human development they now only have
45% of their original range to explore. Making life hard and dangerous for modern day Florida bears.

It is critical that we keep and create more
connected wildlife corridors that will link bears with appropriate food sources and help prevent genetic isolation problems.

Bear-proof trash cans, smart home maintenance
and proper waste disposal keep bears in their natural environments and off our streets. When available, that’s where they prefer to be anyway.

Away from Florida man and cars too, which kill more
bears than anything. Bummer for bears and people.

Plus, conservation land provides natural protection
from flooding, erosion and storms, protecting our homes AND our doughnut shops too.

Conclusion: Bears are cool

Bear Conservation= Good for all No Bear Conservation= Bummer for all