Airmen, bears coexist on Hurlburt Field

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) --  Security forces members from Hurlburt Field and Eglin Air Force Base, along with local civilian officials, gathered at the weapons range learn bear aversion tactics from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission here recently.

The training participants learned various techniques to discourage unacceptable bear behavior, such as getting into garbage receptacles, by using bean bag and paint ball guns and pyrotechnics.

"The reason this is important is because every year we have more and more nuisance bear calls, not just here on base but the state does too," said Philip Pruitt, 1st Special Operations Civil Engineer Squadron base natural resource manager. "There are going to be more and more bears around people."

Mr. Pruitt said a bear that is simply roaming the base doesn't constitute a nuisance bear -- a bear that gets into trash cans or ambles along the flightline does.

1st SOCES works diligently to educate base residents about the bear population and good housekeeping measures to deter bears from visiting their homes, through brochures, briefings and news articles.

"In the last five years we've seen an eight percent increase in the number of complaints we've had," said Stephanie Semick, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission bear program coordinator. "Twenty-five percent of all our calls are related to garbage.

"Through the articles and the education we're giving on base, the residents have really begun to step up [bear deterring measures]," Mr. Pruitt said. "There was a woman I spoke with and she said a bear was coming to her garbage can every night. She began cleaning out her garbage can and the bear has gone away for now."

Though the bears may be a bit of a pest for base residents at times, their presence speaks volumes to the positive environmental stewardship at Hurlburt Field.

"Many people have made the claim that the Florida Black Bear is a symbol of wilderness," said Mike Orlando, FFWCC assistant bear program coordinator. "If you have an area that can support bears, you have many other species that can be supported. All kinds of endangered and common species can be supported there."

According to the FFWCC Web site, www.myfwc.com, Florida Black Bears, the largest land mammal in Florida, are typically elusive and they normally shy away from human contact.

There have been no documented black bear attacks in the state of Florida," Mr. Orlando said.

Adult male bears normally weigh between 250-450 pounds and females 125-250 pounds.

Hurlburt Field is just one example of an environment where humans and bears can both live while respecting each other's space.

"We want to make sure people know how to co-exist with bears, they know how to live in bear country," she said. "We want to reassure them, it's a cool thing."

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page