Bears 'trash' Twin Cities neighborhoods

VALPARAISO — When Shannon Rafiner moved to the area in December, the last thing on her mind was bears.

In fact, when her husband found their garbage strewn across the street, she told him it must have been raccoons.

“He said it had to be a frickin’ big raccoon because the garbage can is ripped in half,’ she recalled.

Soon, they came face to face with one of two Florida black bears that have been hanging out in neighborhoods near College Boulevard.

Local police have been called numerous times by concerned residents. Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have set two traps in the area.

Valparaiso Police Chief Joseph Hart said his officers have been responding to bear calls on Johnson Street and in Kelly Hill Estates. In Niceville, there have also been complaints at the nearby Wildwood Apartments.

Blame the terrain, Hart says.

“That’s a swampy area right there and he’s got lots of places to lay down and wait for dinner,” Hart said. “I think he knows when we pick up garbage now.”

FWC Wildlife Technician Andrew Jernigan said that he has seen both bears. The larger one is a male, estimated to weigh between 250 and 300 pounds. The other is a younger animal that likely weighs about 125 pounds.

The larger bear is wary of traps, having done time in one before. A green tag is visible in his ear in a picture Rafiner took of him while he was licking bird seed off her lawn.

“I understand why people are upset," said FWC biologist Barbara Schmeling. "They don’t want something coming into their yards.”

Or up to their windows.

Rafiner said she has “bear nose tracks” all over her windows and that the animal is becoming increasingly curious about their house.

Another resident, Gina Pace, was trapped in her house by the bear, which was eating her neighbor’s garbage on her porch.

“When he was sitting there, he was enjoying himself,” Pace said. “I was like, Ok, I can’t get to my car.”

Residents say that they’re worried about the safety of their children and pets, since the bear is clearly becoming more comfortable around people. But the biggest problem is the garbage.

“I feel like we live in a landfill,” Rafiner said, adding that the bear has taken dozens of bags of garbage into the nearby woods.

Though residents just want the bears trapped and relocated, FWC officials say the solution is more complex than that. As long as there is an easy food source in the neighborhood, wildlife will be attracted to it.

“It’s about everyone working together to keep the bears where they should be,” Schmeling said. “They can smell that garbage from a good distance.”

And, she added, the bear is less likely to enter a culvert trap for food when it can knock over a garbage can for a quick meal.

She said they will know more about the larger bear’s history once they get the number off its ear tag. But, once captured, the larger bear will likely be shipped to Mud Swamp in the national forest near Apalachicola.

The younger bear should be easier to capture.

Jernigan said that he knows residents want the bears out of there, and they’re working hard to get it done.

“It gets people upset and makes them scared,” he said. “I don’t want them to take matters into their own hands.”