It\u2019s getting to that time of year again when young black bears will be leaving the nest.<\/p>\n
But as they search for a place to settle down on their own, away from their mothers\u2019 home ranges, they might end up unexpectedly in your neighborhood.<\/p>\n
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) shares annual reminders on how to be BearWise\u00ae as bears become more active.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might be surprised where you\u2019ll find juvenile bears this time of year,\u201d said Mike Orlando, FWC Bear Management Program Coordinator. \u201cWherever you see them, give them plenty of space and don\u2019t approach or feed them so they\u2019re encouraged to leave the area on their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Follow these BearWise\u00ae tips to help prevent conflicts with bears:<\/p>\n
Neighborhoods<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n During this time of year, black bear sightings increase in suburban and urban areas, as well as other areas across the state. Seeing a bear in a neighborhood is not necessarily cause for alarm. However, it is important that people secure food attractants to prevent bears from lingering in the area. Generally, if a bear cannot find food and is given space, it will move on. It is also illegal in Florida to intentionally feed bears or leave out food or garbage that attracts them.<\/p>\n Pet Safety<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Black bears are not generally aggressive, but like any wild animal, if they feel threatened, they can become defensive. Dogs have been involved in over half of the incidents in which people were injured by bears in Florida. When walking dogs<\/a>, keep them close to you \u2013 ideally on a non-retractable leash \u2013 and be aware of your surroundings, which is good practice for preventing conflicts with any wildlife. Before letting your dog out in your yard at night, flip the lights on and off and bang on the door to give bears and other wildlife a chance to leave the area.<\/p>\n Roadways<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n As bears become more active this time of year, they cross more roadways. For your own safety and to avoid hitting bears and other wildlife, remember to slow down when driving<\/a>, particularly on rural highways at dawn or dusk. Watch for road signs identifying bear crossing areas. An average of 300 bears are killed annually in Florida after being hit by vehicles.<\/p>\n Here to Help<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Having conflicts with bears? Please call the FWC regional office<\/a> closest to you. To find the phone number for your region, go to MyFWC.com\/Contact, and click on \u201cContact Regional Offices.\u201d<\/p>\n If you spot an injured, orphaned or dead bear, feel threatened by a bear, or to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them, call the FWC\u2019s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922).<\/p>\n More information is available at MyFWC.com\/Bear<\/a>, where you can access the \u201cGuide to Living in Bear Country<\/a>\u201d brochure. Find additional ways to be BearWise\u00ae at BearWise.org<\/a>. Forty-five states, including Florida, support BearWise\u00ae, an innovative program that helps people learn ways to live responsibly with bears. Support conservation of bears and other wildlife by purchasing the Conserve Wildlife license plate at WildlifeFlorida.org\/CWT<\/a>.<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s getting to that time of year again when young black bears will be leaving the nest. But…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":898737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[27],"tags":[3425,10809,7828,746,723,159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":["post-898736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-animals","tag-bears","tag-black-bears","tag-environment","tag-florida","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-wildlife"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116828225295409459","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=898736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/898736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/898737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=898736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=898736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=898736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}