FORT WALTON BEACH — Shelia Boutwell says her nightly visitors are so frequent she doesn’t even take photos. The bears have just become a part of the neighborhood.
“Every other day we’re picking trash up out of the yard,” said Boutwell, who lives in the Emerald Village subdivision off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. “We get visitors about three times a week. When we moved here six years ago it certainly wasn’t this frequent. I think it’s gotten worse over the last two years.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reports that the bear populations in Santa Rosa, Okaloosa and Walton counties have increased significantly in the last 10 years.
“Bears are occupying places now that you never would expect to have found them at or hear about them 10 years ago,” FWC spokesman Stan Kirkland said. “Bears are coming from Eglin (Air Force Base) and moving west to Navarre and Gulf Breeze, even Milton north of (Interstate) 10.”
Statewide, there were 1,346 bear reports in 2002. Last year there were 6,159.
In the first six months of 2004, Santa Rosa County had 11 bear calls. Okaloosa County had 45 and Walton County had one.
So far in 2013, Santa Rosa has had 193 bear reports, with Okaloosa close behind at 172. Walton County has had 19 calls.
“These numbers really jump out at you,” Kirkland said. “These are significant increases.”
Kirkland said the increase in bear reports likely can be attributed to the region’s development and population growth.
The FWC continues to host seminars to educate people on bears. Plans also are underway to compile subpopulation estimates next year to determine the approximate bear population in the Panhandle.
Lawrence Black, who lives in Commando Village off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, said he has seen at least three bears a month lately. It wasn’t nearly that often when he moved to the area in 2002.
“I’ve seen a definite increase,” Black said. “Last week, I put the (garbage) can out and the weather was pretty nice around 7:30 (p.m.), so I started washing my car and a bear that was about 8-feet long came out.
“He saw me and I saw him and we both froze. Finally, I yelled, ‘Hey!’ and he galloped off. That’s a little scary.”