MTaG adopted a black bear family!

A big thank you to Nafadda who generously donated her MTaG Contest prize money to the Defenders of Wildlife Adopt-a-Black Bear fund (http://wildlifeadoption.defenders.org/site/PageServer?pagename=adopt_g_blackbear) in our name.

http://wildlifeadoption.defenders.org/images/adoptioncenter/ornaments/ornament_blk-bear.jpg

Black bears today are threatened by habitat destruction, hunting, poaching, over-zealous predator control programs and highway fatalities, especially in Florida where highways and over-development are destroying large areas of land that black bears depend on for food, water, and shelter. Our gift adoption will help Defenders of Wildlife work with state and local officials to encourage smart urban development and restore a safe cohesive habitat for black bears to live.

MTaG will be receiving a special plush black bear in honor of this donation. I will post pictures as soon as I get him, after which I will send him to his permanent home with Nafadda and her family. :)

Admin
MIND THE age GAP

I am so happy for "our" bear family....I love them already:) i was so sad today when I saw another one on the local news that was hit and killed on the roadway,i feel better now:)

I am surprised about bears in Florida. I thought bears stuck to cooler climates.

we have black bears here in FL,but they are running out of places to live .i'm lucky to live in an area that is near the national forest and the river so we have them right in our own back yard.the babies are so precious .

very cool!

YAY! How very cool. :D
~phos

This is awesome!!! Thanks Nafadda and MTag!!!!

That is awesome. Good job Nafadda and MtAG. Keep it up.

That's very nice! :)

That is awesome, and I'm very glad to be a part of it.

Thanks, Nafadda!!!

Excellent choice! Could we POSSIBLY be the only Age Gap Relationship Forum with and adopted Black Bear family???

I had 2 of my real life friends tell me it was unfair for me to enter because of a little thing that THEY think I do,they seem to think I'm psychic or maybe it was psycho :eek: ,and that since I can see stuff I had an "advantage" :p ..someone else did have that date first,but I wanted it ,so as soon as they changed their mind I grabbed that date and I knew all along I wanted the bears to have it,so it was all good anyway.:)
in my life there are things SO much more important then me. now we have a beautiful family of bears.if I ever see "our" family in the woods,I'll go up and give them a BIG HUUUUG from all of us....maybe on second thought I'll just admire them from afar. ;)

I had adopted a whale for like 6 years! I've never had a piece of a black bear!

SO AWESOME! Thanks nafadda and mtag!

I had 2 of my real life friends tell me it was unfair for me to enter because of a little thing that THEY think I do,they seem to think I'm psychic or maybe it was psycho :eek: ,and that since I can see stuff I had an "advantage" :p ..someone else did have that date first,but I wanted it ,so as soon as they changed their mind I grabbed that date and I knew all along I wanted the bears to have it,so it was all good anyway.:)
in my life there are things SO much more important then me. now we have a beautiful family of bears.if I ever see "our" family in the woods,I'll go up and give them a BIG HUUUUG from all of us....maybe on second thought I'll just admire them from afar. ;)

Yes, as a matter-of-fact, I just realized that I'm the one who originally chose that date. Wow! I think it is so cool that you won, Naf, and so wonderful what you did with your winnings. I'm glad I changed my date so you could have it.....that is too cool!!!! :)

That's COOL!!!

That is so great!!! (I'm a little late :o )

(((Nafadda)))

So Great of Nafadda :):)

don't you just LOVE getting to see them in the wild:)

my husband and me were coming home one evening,we were about a block from our home, when a mother and 3 babies ran in front of us.we slammed the brakes on quick and were not going fast anyway.these were BIG babies,like yearling babies about 7 or 8 months old..so pretty.

I had never seen 3 babies from one mother,I'd seen one or two.I had heard they could have 3 ,just had never seen it.we considered ourselves to be very blessed that evening to see them.

Wow!! 3 babies!! I've never seen that either. Soooo cute!

I've seen lots and lots of bears. Scariest was almost walking into a male grizzly when I was working in the middle of nowhere in the Yukon. Hehe, but he was a lazy fat ass, sitting down and eating roots so we just backed away and did a big detour around him. Another scary one was having a small cub run across the trail not far ahead of us....but no mom behind. We didn't know if we should keep going or turn back. We kept going and never did see momma bear.

Never been charged by one...they either look at me and/or my dogs and RUN or go back to their eating. A few times they've circled around camp if I'm cooking something yummy smelling, but they've always kept their distance (my female dog's incessant howling when she smells bear probably helps).

My former collegue and mentor actually hit a bear on the nose with a frying pan. He was sleeping in his tent (with all his cooking gear which is a big no-no) and the bear was nosing around the door. He opened the door to see what was out there, saw the bear, and promptly hit it with the closest thing, which was a frying pan. The bear then ran away...lol, I've always loved that story.

Very cool adopting a bear family. As a new member, it seems that I've met up with a good bunch of people. I'm way partial to animals over most people anyhow so this is a good thing.

Very cool adopting a bear family. As a new member, it seems that I've met up with a good bunch of people. I'm way partial to animals over most people anyhow so this is a good thing.
WELCOME :D

yes, welcome longrunner23.we are probably one of the only sites like this that has it's own "family" of bears:)

Annie,loved the bear story....I love bears ,but I'm kind of glad we just have big ol' black bears here...nothing against grizzlies,BUT.....our black bears don't care for the taste of people.;) did you see "Grizzly Man"???that was so good,but I was so sad at what happened.he spent 13 summers with the animals,that was cool.

longrunner23,I understand the animals over people thing....I enjoy the company of animals .

Hi longrunner. Welcome! :)

While I'm thrilled with Nafadda's donation in our name and I of course, applaud the support of wildlife habitats, I've been a little, what's the word, disdainful of black bears for the last few months. In Cherokee a small girl was attacked by one and while they fought it off the bear picked up the two year old boy and carried him off killing him. *shudders*

Wasn't a mamma or anything. All they can figure is that the bear may have contracted some type of virus that caused it to attack. I guess going to the Smokies for vacation and taking my two little ones with plans of hiking and spending lots of time in the woods it just frightened me.

But I do applaud you Naf, please don't take my fear for anything else girl. *hugs*

Shan

oh Sdoah,don't be afraid to go camping,you can always go camping in Florida,our bears seem to be pretty nice:) keep an eye out for the gators though,they can be a little grumpy at times.:(

I live where bears are and except for being a little nosey at times and looking for those ol' pic i nic baskets,they don't bother anyone.

the bear you mention must have had something wrong with it as you said.very out of character for a black bear to kill someone:(

I just LOVE them so much.

Sdoah, I've done a lot of research on bear attacks. And, yes, there are (very seldom) random ones where there is absolutely no reason for the attack. Blacks sometimes even stalk people...it can happen. That said, the statistics indicate that you're more likely to be hit by lightening than be attacked by a bear.

When you're in bear country, just make sure to check with a ranger or warden to see what sort of bear activity there's been that year and if bears are a problem there, make lots of noise on the trail, and keep yourself and the kids clean if you are camping (i.e cook in one set of clothes and keep them with the food, and no food in the tent etc.). Some areas have more problems than others, particulaly if there's a lot of "bad" campers and camping areas where bears get into garbage and associate humans with food. The Rockies here in Canada has problem areas because of this, though practices are improving.

I've done lots of work and camping in remote areas and have NEVER even been charged by a bear. They don't want to interact with us so will do their best to stay out of our way. I was working with 2 others in a bog with bush up over our heads one time, and nearly stepped in a steaming pile of bear dung. That bear had managed to avoid all three of us and get out of there unnoticed.

Cool I always wanted a cuddly little black bear !! Too bad they get big and bite though....

I guess I'm one of the "lucky" ones,I live in an area that has black bears and have yet to be "bitten" by one,nor do I know of anyone that ever has been.come to think of it,I don't ever recall a black bear attacking anyone in Fl.I did not realize that they were "GOD FEARLESS KILLING MACHINES" :rolleyes: .....silly me..hmmmm,BUT......

The critter that humans should fear the most usually is dismissed as a mere annoyance, a pest at a picnic or the pool. But the disease-carrying mosquito, delivering encephalitis, the West Nile virus, malaria, and Dengue fever, makes it far and away the deadliest beast in the animal world. The World Health Organization says mosquitos cause more than 2 million deaths a year worldwide. Another insect, the tsetse fly, kills another 66,000 annually.


I think people should have a REAL fear of being bite by one of these little guys and realize the chance of being bite by a bear is VERY slim.;)

The critter that humans should fear the most usually is dismissed as a mere annoyance, a pest at a picnic or the pool. But the disease-carrying mosquito, delivering encephalitis, the West Nile virus, malaria, and Dengue fever, makes it far and away the deadliest beast in the animal world. The World Health Organization says mosquitos cause more than 2 million deaths a year worldwide. Another insect, the tsetse fly, kills another 66,000 annually.

I think people should have a REAL fear of being bite by one of these little guys and realize the chance of being bite by a bear is VERY slim.;)

Exactly, Nafadda!!! It's the fear of the unknown....people drive their cars everyday even though there is a high risk of getting into a car accident. And people aren't afraid of mosquitoes because we see them everywhere and we're used to them.

Dang bugs!!!! I live about 40 feet from a pond....and the bugs are starting to come out at night now.

I was just watching the local news and today there was a black bear in a neighborhood in Simsbury, Connecticut. He was in front of someone's house eating out of their garbage cans and one of the neighboring families caught the whole thing on their video camera. I'm not sure how close the neighborhood is to any type of wooded area. It was unclear how the bear got there. But the people were very suprised, needless to say, when they looked out their window and saw him.

Apparently a cougar killed someone's goats out here today. They brought out the coon dogs and were tracking it down. I haven't heard whether or not they got it, and if they were planning on relocating it or just killing it.

One of the local TV stations was out and interviewed my dad about cougars (because he's a well-known old-timer around here). If I had TV, I'd watch it....but nope.

It just ticks me off....I'm feeling drained from work and then come home to hear that. There's just no reason for it, that's what makes me mad. If you have animals, keep them safe. Cougars LIVE here - I just don't get why people suddenly freak out and are surprised when they decide to take out a goat or sheep.

Blah....I'm in a crummy mood.

We have been having sightings of cougars in our area recently. Bears have been around a lot more lately too. That comment by me up there was said in good fun I don't know how some people took that. In my culture we have clans and I am bear clan.One cancompare clans to astrology in that those born into certain clans have different personalities and different "jobs" throughout the tribe. I, being bear clan am what's referred to as "the Great Protectors". Most people here in law enforcement, security and public service careers are bear clan. Wolf clan for example are the hunters of the tribe. Eagle clan is the great warriors and laborers. Crane clan represented the "scientists" of their day and were great inventors as well as idealists. Finally the moose clan was the supervisor of agriculture and wild ricing. So being bear clan I can't kill a bear hunting or other conflicts. I used to have big dogs they were scared of so they never entered our yard but now my dogs are gone and now I'm stuck with this poodle.....

Yeah, Mr B, some years it seems that the cougars and bears come out of the hills a little more. One summer about 6 years back, my mom had about 7 cougar sightings. Hard to tell if it was the same one or not (haha...she didn't get that close) but they were around an awful lot - those are just the times she saw one.

I hope this doesn't turn out to be one of those years. I love seeing cougars, but it doesn't bode well for their own safety, if they are down here with people.

By the way, I love hearing about your culture! Hmm, I wonder if I would have been a member of the crane clan if I was born into your tribe. That pretty much describes me to a "T".

It all goes by patrilineal descent = dad's side lol.
So my dad was bear clan so that makes me bear clan.

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/flbears/news/floridabearnews.html

http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/flbears/news/floridabearnews.html

How many bears were adopted?

this site adopted a bear "family"...if you go to the link on the first post it shows how you can adopt a single bear or a family.I guess it depends on which family you get,I have seen a family on my street with as many as 3 babies.They were just too cute.I LOVE those bears....yea,just call me mother earthy when it comes to wildlife....:D

Sad news... My dad hit a bear on the way home from town. His truck is fine but the bear unfortuneatly is not. He was injured to the point of suffering seriously and was put down. The conservation warden on scene informed us he was probably this year's cub and was approximately 75-110 lbs. He asked if my dad wanted to keep it but our culture forbids us to consume bear meat. sad day for little bears. :(

awwww....that is so sad..I'm glad your dad is ok...I LOVE bears SOOOOO much.......that makes me sad:(

Gosh, how scary! I'm glad your dad is ok, but it is definitely sad about the little bear. :(

I think I saw "our" bears last night.....they were big and fat and sooooo cute.I wanted to give them a BIIIG hug.....I'm sure they were "ours":)

I think I saw "our" bears last night.....they were big and fat and sooooo cute.I wanted to give them a BIIIG hug.....I'm sure they were "ours":)

I have a very handsome little bear..sleeps next to me every night..he wears a red sweater and has a heart on his chest...he was a Valentines Day gift given to me this past Valentines Day...I kind of liked getting a bear for Valentines Day...it beats a box of chocolates that's for sure (or worse yet a trip to your local emergency room :eek: :rolleyes: )

Sorry I forgot to respond. My dad is fine and his SUV sustained no damage, the poor bear was just a lil guy. :(

Hmm..I like big tall bears...usually like the ones who dress themselves up in red sweaters best...and yes, this is meant as a cryptic messege...it matters not to me if anyone else GETS it.

Hmm..I like big tall bears...usually like the ones who dress themselves up in red sweaters best...and yes, this is meant as a cryptic messege...it matters not to me if anyone else GETS it.



yea ..ok....I still like real bears:rolleyes: .....the furry kind....that don't have many places left to live in Fl...and they don't wear sweaters...:cool:

yea ..ok....I still like real bears:rolleyes: .....the furry kind....that don't have many places left to live in Fl...and they don't wear sweaters...:cool:

I like furry bears without clothes also Naf...I am rather fond of both types. :D :cool:

I like furry bears without clothes also Naf...I am rather fond of both types. :D :cool:



oh NO..... NAKED BEARS:D .....I have see some men that were as "furry" as bears:eek: .....but MY favorites are still the cute black ones in the forest...:)

oh NO..... NAKED BEARS:D .....I have seen some men that were as "furry" as bears:eek: .....but MY favorites are still the cute black ones in the forest...:)

LOL Naf..yes, certain men do seem to have an awful lot of fur don't they? :D :p

I'm of the hairless variety :D

I'm of the hairless variety :D

Good...guess that means no one can ruffle you fur then right? lol

I hope our bear family is warm tonight:)