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florida bear problem
Since bears in Fla. are protected, and it seems they know it, we have at least six bears, pics taken on trail cams, being pigs at our feeders. We had to suspend them between trees to keep the bears from ripping motors and such from the bottom of the feeders. This is getting expensive, corn and repairs, so we are trying to find a way to stop the bears. I have seen bee keepers surround their hives with some kind of electric fence, powered by car batteries I think, and am wondering if we try this will it also keep deer out or will they jump the wire and feed. This area doesn't have many deer and we are trying to establish a safe zone to get some to stay in the area. Hunting allowed outside the zone roughly two 15 acre mostly wooded sand pines. Any suggestions that we may try would be appreciated.
I was always taught to respect my elders, but its getting harder to find one ...
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Just got off the phone with one of my colleagues who is a little more into wildlife/bear management than I. Wanted to get his opinion of what I want to tell you. So....
You can keep the bear out of your food plot/feeding area with an electric fence as you described ie battery powered. But you're going to have to have a series of wires, ground/hot, ground/hot, ground/hot, at least three sets up to about 40 inches off the dirt. Bear have a soft foot pad with hair and this gives them some insulation from the ground. The three ground/hot wire setup will overcome this. Deer have hooves that are in contact with the dirt, well grounded, and a single hot wire will knock hell out of them. They may learn to jump over the three wire set-up at 40 or so inches, but most probably they won't or will not do this. I keep deer out of my small farm area with a single hot wire 30 inches off the ground with an occasional glob of peanut butter on a few of the insulators. Works like a charm, and I'm afraid the wire setup around your feeders will have the same effect. The best that you can do, in my opinion, is to rig the feeders up high, 12 feet or more, between trees where the bears can't get to them. But they will probably learn quickly to climb the tree and tear the wire down to get to the feeders. You may end up having to rig the three hot/ground setup around the tree to keep them off.
Florida has a black bear problem, and nothing has or will be done about it. These bears can be dangerous and will kill you, so don't mess around with them.
Life member of the American Legion, the VFW, the NRA and the Masonic Lodge, retired LEO
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Initially it was a campaign by the state to allow the black bears to recover to some imaginary level just like the red snapper. Now they've recovered so well that they've become a nuisance and so far the state refuses to allow a limited harvest. They could issue a handfull of tags in the areas where they're really a problem like down around Chipley. I've had some friends give up their deer leases around there because the bears kept tearing up their stands and feeders. As for trying to run them off or shooting them, the punishment for harming a bear is almost greater that the punishment for rape or murder.
Seriously, this is because of what I said. They always say that they just want to get the numbers up, but then when the wildlife is getting to be a nuisance, they still won't let you shoot 'em, because the bunny huggers are whispering in the state official's ears telling them they don't need to shoot poor Yogi.
Here in Texas they put a limit of 3 between 1" and 30" on Redfish back in 1986 I think. Then a couple years later they tightened the length window to 20-28, where it still is. However, to my surprise and probably due to a lot of public pressure, they have since given us a couple of oversize fish tags for them. That surprised me, but thinking about it TPWD has done that, though most probably due to pressure by those with lots of money. For instance, when aligators got to be a pest they opened up a limited season on them.
For you guys in Florida, all I have to say is there is strength in numbers. Unite and hound the legislature about this. In texas we don't have the numbers of libtards elsewhere. But we have enough of them that we have to work at it to get what we want.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Jerry
It's the same here in Texas, my bad. I was spot on and went to sleep at the wheel. TPWD is very powerful. Maybe too powerful in some peoples opinion. However, since Parks and Wildlife is making the decisions on this I guess it's better than leaving it in the hands of lawmakers that know nothing of Biology and conservation. So yes, people need to put the pressure on the FWC.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Jerry