Female black bear found shot in Carrabelle

            Officials from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have confirmed that a 160-pound female Florida black bear was found shot in Carrabelle.

            Found Sunday afternoon on First Street near the Sands of Carrabelle condominiums, the bear was sedated and examined for the severity of its wounds.

            Wildlife technician Ron Copely helped capture the bear and watched over her while she recovered from sedatives. “If she has only lost the use of one leg we can release her, but if she has lost the use of both legs, we have to put her down,” he said.

            After 24 hours of observation, the bear was released into Tate’s Hell State Forest on Monday afternoon.

            FWC bear biologist Dave Telesco said the bear appeared to have been shot twice. He said information about the type of weapon was limited.

            “If, as is usually the case, the bear had been found dead, we would have performed a necropsy and removed the bullets, but, because the bear survived, we only did a field exam,” he said.

            Adam Warwick, the wildlife biologist who oversees the bear population in Franklin County said, "She was injured in one rear leg. We believe she can recover.”

            He said the case has been turned over to FWC investigator Harry Thompson.

            Mike Duhart, who lives at the Sands of Carrabelle condominiums, said the bear is a frequent visitor there. He said she sometimes causes problems when weekend visitors come down and leave garbage in unsecured trash cans.

            He said he was not bothered by the bear because he retrofitted his trash can with straps to exclude the bear and has been careful not to leave food items in the can overnight.

            “She got into my garbage once and when she found out there was nothing she wanted in there, she left it alone,” he said.

            Carrabelle police officer Alvin Mitchell said the bear frequently visits the condominiums on Sunday nights to rifle through trash left by weekend visitors.

            Bears were a hot topic at the Nov. 3 county commission meeting.

            When FWC bear liaison Maria Williams made a presentation on living with bears, commissioners took the opportunity to grill her on human / bear interactions.

            “What is the purpose of a bear?” demanded Noah Lockley.

            Williams responded that bears are an umbrella species important to the local ecosystem, but commissioners continued to insist FWC was not offering good solutions to the bear problem.

            Commissioners asked if free retrofit kits for trash cans could be made available to the public.  Williams said funding for the kits was limited and they were only available at festivals.  She said that plans for bear proof containers were available from FWC.

            At the Nov. 5 meeting of the Carrabelle Commission, Commissioner Richard Sands said he received a complaint from a constituent who said FWC had threatened him with a citation if he did not secure his garbage container.

            Mayor Curley Messer said the idea of FWC punishing a citizen for not securing his garbage angered him. “I want those Fish and Wildlife people out of Carrabelle,” he said.

            “We don’t want them out, we want them to do their job,” responded Sands.

            Warwick said he believed Sands referred to a resident on Avenue H who has an unsecured dumpster on his property. “We warned him in April and again last month but he has refused to cooperate,” Warwick said.

            Telesco said that bears are an imperiled species and are protected under the law.

            “An attack on a bear is punishable by up to a $5,000 fine, up to five years in jail and a revocation of the attacker’s hunting license,” he said. “An attack on a bear is usually a result of frustration with the bear.

            “People want to be told they can hunt bears but that won’t solve the problem either. Every state that has bear hunts still has a bear problem,” he said. “The bottom line is, when people are told bears are protected, that is the right answer. It’s not going to change and it’s not something that can be decided on a local level.”

            Telesco said that over 25 percent of complaints about bears involve unsecured garbage. “It frustrates me that people don’t try to work with us. We will help them in any way we can,” he said.

            To report an attack on a bear, which can be done anonymously, call (888) 404-3922. Nuisance bears can be reported to the same office.

Florida regulations concerning black bears

            Rule 68A-4.001 (3): It is prohibited to place food or garbage out to intentionally attract bears.

            68A-12.004 (12): The sale or purchase of any bear carcass or part thereof is prohibited (including taxidermy mounts) unless legally acquired and has a tag bearing the name and address of the possessor and the date when and the specific place where it was taken and acquired.

            68A-27.004: No person shall take, possess, transport, molest, harass, or sell any threatened species unless under special permit (mostly scientific purposes).