Black Bears

#79
#79
Panthro said:
We went to Cades Cove last week and counted 10+ bears while on the loop.
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Was that 1 per hour? The congestion is ruining the cove. They should ban cars and run electric buses and charge a fee to cover the expense IMHO. The mornings when cars are banned and you can only ride bicycles are the only times I’ll go any more.
 
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#80
#80
walkenvol said:
Was that 1 per hour? The congestion is ruining the cove. They should ban cars and run electric buses and charge a fee to cover the expense IMHO. The mornings when cars are banned and you can only ride bicycles are the only times I’ll go any more.
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It's awful now. I can't stand it. When I was a kid, we used to go at least twice a month for camping or just to have lunch and do whatever. We could ride our bikes around the loop 2 or 3 times in a day with very little worry about cars, no matter what time it was. There was always a picnic table available and you didn't have to wait and try to pounce on one before somebody else did.
 
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#81
#81
Panthro said:
We went to Cades Cove last week and counted 10+ bears while on the loop.
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I grew up going there like many. It used to be an event to see a black bear, something that happened maybe one in ten trips. Now if you don't see multiple bears it's an off-day. I still love Cades Cove, but it suffers from too much love now.

If you want to see bears without a crowd, go hiking in Townsend or Walland. They are freaking everywhere now. My buddy with the bear problem in Walland made the mistake of leaving his window cracked with a snack inside the car. Mama bear removed the entire window for him and with her two cubs in tow, relieved him of his snack as well.
 
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#82
#82
walkenvol said:
Was that 1 per hour? The congestion is ruining the cove. They should ban cars and run electric buses and charge a fee to cover the expense IMHO. The mornings when cars are banned and you can only ride bicycles are the only times I’ll go any more.
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I live in Maryville, so it's not a long drive for us to get up there quickly. We usually go in the evenings, because there are fewer cars, and a higher likelihood of seeing a coyote.
 
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#88
#88
mad4vols said:
Lately I keep seeing in the news, videos of bears in Tennessee using jacuzzis, going through trash, etc. Are they becoming more brave or is this normal? Not sure how common it is, I’ve never encountered one.

Since we are so close to the mountains, do any of you have any interesting stories of black bear encounters?
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Surprisingly I have had a few encounters with bears here in FL. Used to have one that would take giant craps in my back yard....drove my dog crazy.

Also once had a young buck wander up to the same house I was renting as we were getting the kids ready for school. He came right up to us with no fear and let the whole family pet him and then ate cherry popstars right out of my hand. It was surreal. I later found out that there was a deer farm fairly close and he must have wandered off...explained why he was so tame and larger than most t FL deer.

Also had run-in with a black bar in Gatlinburg on my 17th birthday. I didn't even notice him him until he was so close that I had to jump in the Jeep Wrangler in the hotel parking lot. Glad he didn't try to get in after me! He just sniffed around and then walked off looking for food/garbage.
 
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#90
#90
gainesvol82 said:
Surprisingly I have had a few encounters with bears here in FL. Used to have one that would take giant craps in my back yard....drove my dog crazy.

Also once had a young buck wander up to the same house I was renting as we were getting the kids ready for school. He came right up to us with no fear and let the whole family pet him and then ate cherry popstars right out of my hand. It was surreal. I later found out that there was a deer farm fairly close and he must have wandered off...explained why he was so tame and larger than most t FL deer.

Also had run-in with a black bar in Gatlinburg on my 17th birthday. I didn't even notice him him until he was so close that I had to jump in the Jeep Wrangler in the hotel parking lot. Glad he didn't try to get in after me! He just sniffed around and then walked off looking for food/garbage.
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Which part of Florida?
 
#91
#91
mad4vols said:
I’ve heard something about wild turkeys being a big problem on Staten Island NY, apparently they block cars traveling on streets and are aggressive towards humans.
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Geese are pretty aggressive here in FL.
 
#96
#96
burntorangeVOLffle said:
Seems like they have been pretty active this spring but it could also be more people filming them with their phones, posting to social media, then getting spread around or even picked up by traditional media.

In my 20+ years of hiking regularly I have seen one bear. Last year… It wasn’t even on the trail but off the road on the way to a trail.

There was a young one in my neighborhood the week before last. I live in town not out in the country so that was pretty rare event.
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saw a BIG female running through brush off Browns Mill couple weeks ago.

Two summers ago we had to call TWRA as juvenille had climbed a tree across street from the house. We live in middle of town.
 
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#97
#97
mad4vols said:
We have alligators down here in Tampa Bay
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Have them here too. My house I previously rented before buying my new house early this month(yay!) was on a canal that led to the St.Johns river. Regularly had 5-7 foot gators in my back yard sunning themselves. My dog refused to go in the back yard unless he was chasing a rabbit or squirrel. Some of my neighbors would feed this little 4 footer that everyone named Lucifer. It was cool to have him come up to the seawall and look up at you wanting food but also a really dangerous, bad idea to train him to associate people with food.

Bet there are some monsters down in your area. I won't be seeing wildlife much in my new residential neighborhood in Orange Park. Watching the elderly neighbors is almost as fun though!
 
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