People, Wildlife Encounters Increase In Northeast Florida
By Teresa Stepzinski, The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"People and wildlife are living in closer proximity now more than ever," said
That means many
Just ask
The morning after Gannam cooked burgers on his backyard grill last August, an uninvited guest showed up at the family's
A lean black coyote chomped, tugged and shredded chunks of Gannam's grill cover likely hoping to find some leftovers. Stunned at the sight, Gannam's wife and 8-year-old daughter watched from safety inside the home as the predator, which in
"I'm never going outside again," said Gannam's daughter -- fear creeping into her voice -- as her mother captured the incident on video. In the eight years the family has lived at their home, it was the first time a coyote came calling although raccoons, foxes, armadillos, rabbits, eagles and osprey visit from the woods nearby, Gannam said.
Coyotes roam all 67 counties statewide. A coyote in the backyard might not be routine but it's not uncommon.
"We figured it was just passing through. ... however, I'm not so sure," said Gannam, who believes the coyote is back after he heard "a very distinctive barking, whining, yipping and howling" coming from his backyard about
The commotion went on for several minutes. Gannam said it matched recordings of wild coyote calls that he found on the Internet. The coyote visits left him alert but not overly alarmed.
"I got pretty comfortable after doing some research that they are rarely a threat to humans, and usually not to pets. "And I think it has plenty to eat in the woods, though that doesn't quite explain why it went after my grill," Gannam said,
Wildlife authorities, however, caution that several coyote attacks on dogs and cats have been reported in
BOBCAT UNDER DECK
Reclusive and rarely seen,
A bobcat sought refuge from the heat beneath the wooden deck of
"My son was on top of the deck at the top of the stairs and the bobcat was right under him underneath the stairs, and skittered across the grass about 25 feet then stopped at the edge of the grass and looked back at him," Goreschak said.
That was about 18 months ago. But the bobcat's been back, he said.
"We saw it about six months ago. It was on the boardwalk out to our creek. ... It was probably about 150 feet from our house," Goreschak said.
BACKYARD SANCTUARY
Otters sun themselves on the couple's dock. Possums, armadillos and raccoons are at home amid the many plants. Songbirds overhead in the trees. Owls, snowy egrets, kingfishers, herons and wood storks line the bank of the pond. The couple keep the yard as natural as possible so wildlife will feel at home.
"We don't try to make them pets. We want them to be wild animals... We're cultivators of nature and we're glad we can help them have a place to live,"
The couple recently rescued a snowy egret that nearly drowned while fishing in their pond. A turtle had grabbed the egret's leg to pull it beneath the water as rain poured down. Struggling for its life, the egret was exhausted and covered with weeds, leaves and twigs floating in the pond. The Shields eased their boat out to it then brought it to shore where they rinsed clean with barely warm water.
They kept the bird warm with a towel and washcloth then caught some minnows from the pond and put them in a dish near the egret, which perked up at the sight. When a minnow flopped out onto the floor, Shields gently fed it to the egret. By morning, it had recovered and when the couple released it, the egret flew up into a nearby tree and then away, she said.
HABITAT SHRINKING
Habitat loss due to development means wildlife and human interactions are more frequent.
Consider
"Bears have been commonly seen in what is now
Urbanization of rural areas means roads are built that intersect wildlife travel areas meaning animals can't readily cross from one section of habitat to another. Wildlife corridors such as tunnels under highways are expensive. Fences built to channel far-ranging wildlife, such as panthers, underground to cross don't always work, Larson said.
"It's kind of like if you went into a dark tunnel yourself. It's forboding and isn't enticing so they [wildlife] don't want to use them so they choose the visual path which leads to them getting hit on the road," she said.
DEADLY CROSSINGS
Hard numbers are difficult to come by because there is no centralized data base for wildlife encounters. Typically, incidents go unreported unless someone is killed or injured or property is damaged. However, the
Catching a deer in the headlights might not happen as often in
The state's roads also are deadly for other wildlife. The leading cause of death for bears and panthers in
Virtually all the animals brought to HAWKE have been injured or orphaned by cars. The number of those animals has gone up 50 percent in the 26 years since HAWKE opened, Cain-Stage said.
BEAR ENCOUNTERS
Schneider came within feet of being face-to-snout with a mother bear and her cub in January. He'd stepped outside just before dawn to pick up his newspaper at the end of his driveway. Mother and cub came along the side of his house just them. As the screen door slammed shut behind Schneider, the mother bear rose up on her hind legs and looked straight at him.
"Fortunately, I was near the door to retreat to avoid a confrontation," he said.
A few weeks later, the bird feeder hanging outside the couple's dining room window proved irresistible to the bears. The mother bear knocked down the feeder with ease. Gobbling up the spilled bird seed until their bellies were full, the bears ambled off peacefully, presumably for a nap, Schneider said.
Their homeowner's association has advised residents to be careful at night, carry a whistle and flashlight to scare off bears, and reminded them that they shouldn't leave out trash or deliberately feed the bears, Scheider said.
Not all bear encounters, however, end safely. There is no guarantee, as evidenced by
The 54-year-old woman was attacked about
"Bears are very opportunistic. ...They come into neighborhoods all the time and would live there if we let them, but that's not what we want," said Barrett, noting that bears periodically pass through
About 3,000 bears roam the state -- a far cry from about 300 in 1974 when
Some young male bears wander into neighborhoods looking for love and territory, but food is the prime motivator.
"Bears are smart enough to be lazy," Barrett said.
Bears eat 5,000 calories a day in early spring but ramp it up to 20,000 calories a day during the fall in preparation for winter.
"To a bear, 20,000 calories a day is spending 18 hours a day walking around the forest looking for acorns. Or you can hit a couple of trash cans and eat our leftovers then sleep the rest of the day," Barrett said.
Mother bears run off their sons after about 18 months. The young males roam in the spring to find a territory of their own. Often they end up on the fringe of a mature adult bear's territory, which tends to be human neighborhood. Those young male bears generally get into trouble more often with people, Barrett said.
Roaming bears tend to get hit Florida roads. Last year, 230 bears were struck and killed, while a record 284 died after being hit in 2012.
The
"Knock on wood, we haven't had a documented panther attack on a person at least in 100 years, but that isn't to say it couldn't happen," said Fleming of
Larson of the
"If we don't habituate wildlife to human interaction, they'll instinctively try to steer clear of us, Larson said.
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