The bear I talked about a few posts ago made the news again yesterday.
From wpbf.com:
WELLINGTON, Fla. -- State wildlife officers have caught a black bear that was spotted several times in Wellington the past few days.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers said the 300-pound bear was found Wednesday morning along a canal and Southern Boulevard across from Palms West Hospital.
Officers monitored the bear until David Hitzig with Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter arrived.
"At one point he came out to the road up against the guardrail, and we made the decision at that point that he was in a position that we could safely tranquilize him with a tranquilizer dart," Hitzig said.
Hitzig said he came within 10 feet of the bear.
"He definitely saw me when I got into position to take the shot, and we had a staring contest for a while," Hitzig said. "And believe it or not, I actually asked the bear very politely if he would step out in the open so I could get a good shot, and he nicely complied."
Officers on Tuesday baited a bear trap with dog food and sardines. But in the end, the bear had his own plans.
It took five people to lift the bear into the trap. Officers kept the bear cool with bags of ice.
"This is the bear from Weston that was captured and relocated two weeks ago," FWC spokeswoman Gabrielle Bruni said.
The bear was taken to a state forest in Collier County in May.
"If it's come back from Collier County, Collier County might not be a suitable place," Bruni said.
This time, the bear will be brought to the Osceola National Forest in north Florida.
I wonder if he'll try coming back again?
BTW, it was so not cool of Michael to take Farrah's day away from her. Not cool at all.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Sunset at Matheson
The other evening, my husband wanted me to see all the hard work they had done at Matheson Hammock Park & Marina, getting ready for a ceremony in which they received a "Clean Marina" title. This is supposedly a big deal for marinas to get. Anyway, so we loaded up and drove 5 miles to one of the prettiest places in Miami.
My stupid camera stubbornly refuses to capture the true colors of what was a really pretty sunset.
I think this sign was hung in anticipation of the short one's beach visits.Sunday, June 21, 2009
Swampangel Takes a Trip
A few weeks ago, Sam and I flew to Pennsylvania to see my bestest friend, Lois, and to go to a Geo Event at a place called Camp Carmel. I hadn't flown commercial in 18 years, so the whole thing was an experience for me! Making sure none of my liquids were more than 3 oz. and making sure I had them all in a baggie...shoes on, shoes off, shoes on, stand in line like cattle...I'm surprised so many people still fly!
We flew into Pittsburgh. The airport there is pretty neat with fun stuff to look at like the T-Rex below. We had just seen Night at the Museum, Battle of the Smithsonian so I had to get a picture of this guy to show my little one.
A tunnel.
Wow. Just wow. One wrong step, one slip and it was a loooong way down!
Hey Dude, ya know there's an easier way to get to the cache!
I have no idea what kind fo snake this little guy was. We passed him coming and going on the trail. The only snake I saw the whoile time up there after being warned about Copperheads and Timber Rattlers.
George, Joe, Lois and Sam...grabbing another cache on our long hike. The scenery was so worth the long hike and aching feet covered with blisters.
Elk Rocks. So cool. So totally, completely, incredibly breathtaking. At least they were to me. 
I kept thinking of the Lord of the Rings and was half expecting to see a Hobbit pop out.
We were here bright and early so Sam and Lois could check in for their rafting adventure.
Ohiopyle Falls. Aren't they pretty? This is the Youghiogheny (you get a gold star if you can pronounce it right) River that Sam and Lj went rafting on, though NOT over these falls. They are off limits.
Sam and Lois's group. You can actually see Lj's arm in the boat on the far left. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures where you could actually see them. The outfitter's took some, though, and have them on their website. I need to remember to order some.
Sam being Sam
Can you see the girl in the gown behind the waterfall? I guess they were doing pictures for either high school or maybe her "sweet sixteen". It was kind of a neat thing to see.
I didn't get any really good pics of these falls, but they were really cool.
A day of caching brought us to this old, peaceful cemetery. So serene, but of course the cache was hidden in a patch of poison ivy...grrr.....
We passed two of these real, original tollhouses. Cute...I wonder how they tie in with Tollhouse cookies?
Our caching run even took us to Maryland! Ok, so we only got one cache in Maryland, but it was a very cool one that took us here...
We didn't stay there! Only parked there. Then it was a short hike across a field and into some woods to find a stone marker of the Mason-Dixon Line.
I have no freakin' idea what was up with the dog , but none of us wanted to move it.
On the search for a cache in an old, unmarked graveyard....
I found it unbelievable that this little graveyard of Revolutionary soldiers is covered with weeds, off the trail and completely unmarked! It was nice to see that someone had placed flags on their graves for Memorial Day.
The war memorial in Dunbar, built in the 40's. Very nice monument. I am proud to be able to say that I now know someone who is listed on one of those plaques...Lois's dad. He's a great guy...funny, kind and very hospitable. And sharp as a tack for being 90 years young!
Check out the ninth name...cracked me up!
Brownsville...this was an abandoned hospital. Very old and very creepy!
This little town is loaded...I mean LOADED with churches! We checked out the graveyard behind this one. Some very old graves in it from the 1700's.
I know there is one in Ft. Lauderdale that goes under the New River, but other than that, I can't recall ever going through one.
Cut me some slack...things like this are new and exciting for me, as sad as that may seem...
Pittsburgh has alot of bridges
After about 2 hours or so, we finally arrived at our destination - Camp Carmel.
Everyone at the event had to do something to help get the Camp ready for the summer season. Some cut the grass, weedeated, chainsawed trees...we repainted some bunkbeds.
The temporary caches placed for the event were some of the best caches I have ever seen in my life. Very creative and in beautiful areas...
You may be able to see them in the distance...windmills. In case you can't see them, Lois and Joe demonstrate what they look like.
Yes, cachers are dorks.
Wow. Just wow. One wrong step, one slip and it was a loooong way down!But, ah...the places caching can take you to!
Hey Dude, ya know there's an easier way to get to the cache!
I have no idea what kind fo snake this little guy was. We passed him coming and going on the trail. The only snake I saw the whoile time up there after being warned about Copperheads and Timber Rattlers.
George, Joe, Lois and Sam...grabbing another cache on our long hike. The scenery was so worth the long hike and aching feet covered with blisters.
Elk Rocks. So cool. So totally, completely, incredibly breathtaking. At least they were to me. 
I kept thinking of the Lord of the Rings and was half expecting to see a Hobbit pop out.
The pictures do not do them justice. The area was almost surreal...as I guess it would be to anyone from Florida!
We were here bright and early so Sam and Lois could check in for their rafting adventure.
Sam had a great time and can't wait to do it again!
Ohiopyle Falls. Aren't they pretty? This is the Youghiogheny (you get a gold star if you can pronounce it right) River that Sam and Lj went rafting on, though NOT over these falls. They are off limits.
Sam and Lois's group. You can actually see Lj's arm in the boat on the far left. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures where you could actually see them. The outfitter's took some, though, and have them on their website. I need to remember to order some.
The weeds in PA are so beautiful...daisies!!! Lots and lots of them everywhere!
Sam being Sam
Can you see the girl in the gown behind the waterfall? I guess they were doing pictures for either high school or maybe her "sweet sixteen". It was kind of a neat thing to see.
I didn't get any really good pics of these falls, but they were really cool.
A day of caching brought us to this old, peaceful cemetery. So serene, but of course the cache was hidden in a patch of poison ivy...grrr.....
We passed two of these real, original tollhouses. Cute...I wonder how they tie in with Tollhouse cookies?
We grabbed a cache at a park that was full of these awesome wood carved statues. All of them were carved with chainsaws...beautiful!
Our caching run even took us to Maryland! Ok, so we only got one cache in Maryland, but it was a very cool one that took us here...
We didn't stay there! Only parked there. Then it was a short hike across a field and into some woods to find a stone marker of the Mason-Dixon Line.
I have no freakin' idea what was up with the dog , but none of us wanted to move it.See...Sam is a "P" because he's standing in Pennsylvania. Lj is an "M" 'cause she's in Maryland.
As mentioned previously, cachers are dorks!
On the search for a cache in an old, unmarked graveyard....
I found it unbelievable that this little graveyard of Revolutionary soldiers is covered with weeds, off the trail and completely unmarked! It was nice to see that someone had placed flags on their graves for Memorial Day.
(Thanks to the kind stranger on a bike who showed us where it was!)
The war memorial in Dunbar, built in the 40's. Very nice monument. I am proud to be able to say that I now know someone who is listed on one of those plaques...Lois's dad. He's a great guy...funny, kind and very hospitable. And sharp as a tack for being 90 years young!
Check out the ninth name...cracked me up!
Brownsville...this was an abandoned hospital. Very old and very creepy!
This little town is loaded...I mean LOADED with churches! We checked out the graveyard behind this one. Some very old graves in it from the 1700's.
Nemacolin Castle, built in 1789 (I think)
The biggest "bear" we saw in Pennsylvania!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
An otterly yucky job
My friends, Marc and Eliana are back in Alaska helping Fish and Wildlife determine why sea otters have been dying up there.
Check out this video from ktuu tv in Alaska:
Marc and Eliana
Good job... and better you than me! Hopefully by the time you guys come back, the smell will have gone away...ewwwww!
Tomorrow I plan to uploads pics from my trip to Pennsylvania and tell y'all about our adventures there a couple weeks ago. I have been such a slacker lately!
Check out this video from ktuu tv in Alaska:
Marc and Eliana
Good job... and better you than me! Hopefully by the time you guys come back, the smell will have gone away...ewwwww!
Tomorrow I plan to uploads pics from my trip to Pennsylvania and tell y'all about our adventures there a couple weeks ago. I have been such a slacker lately!
Monday, June 1, 2009
A Bear Doesn't Necesarilly ---- in the Woods
Yesterday, a 310 lb. Black Bear was caught in Weston and released in the Picayune Strand State Forest. Weston is not a little town in the woods. It is a busy, crowded city and the FWC tranqed the bear at a busy intersection! He was then transported out to the Picayune, which will be the perfect place for him (or her?). The bear never hurt anyone, but he was close to schools, homes and even a golf course, so for the safety of the residents, as well as the safety of the bear, he was relocated.
Stories like this disturb me. I mean, everything went well..no harm was done and there's a happy ending, but it reinforces the well-known fact that we are constantly encroaching on the habitat of our precious wildlife. A few years ago, a panther was found dead just a few miles EAST of the Miccosukee Gaming Resort! That's east as in toward Miami, NOT west toward the Everglades!
When I was little, we had alot of creatures that would come through our yard. Nothing special, and a little annoying...possums, raccoons, rats, mice, lots of snakes, etc. We even had foxes in our neighborhood. Now we see the occassional possum (sorry, but yuck!)..no raccoons, no rodents (not a major loss) and in 1992, I saw the last fox in our area lying dead at the intersection of our neighborhood and a major road. So sad. I get giddy with excitement when one of us finds a snake in the yard....a rare find.
People talk about how much they HATE Miami. I have said the same thing myself more than once, but the truth is I LOVE Miami. I HATE the overpopulation and cookie cutter housing that has sprung up...right to the boundaries of the ENP. Sad and disgusting and it really pisses me off. Why can't there be a total building moratorium? There are enough houses for sale that they certainly do not need to build any new ones. Strip malls? Ugh, we have more than enough!
Miami is a really cool place. The Atlantic Ocean is only minutes away from wherever you are, as are the Everglades. An hour south are the Keys. There are beautiful, old areas in Miami that are rich with local history. There is something for everyone here...you just have to look. I love this place, I just wish half the population would disappear. Any half. Just go somewhere else so the building can stop, the traffic can become tolerable, and wandering bears aren't such a big deal.
Stories like this disturb me. I mean, everything went well..no harm was done and there's a happy ending, but it reinforces the well-known fact that we are constantly encroaching on the habitat of our precious wildlife. A few years ago, a panther was found dead just a few miles EAST of the Miccosukee Gaming Resort! That's east as in toward Miami, NOT west toward the Everglades!
When I was little, we had alot of creatures that would come through our yard. Nothing special, and a little annoying...possums, raccoons, rats, mice, lots of snakes, etc. We even had foxes in our neighborhood. Now we see the occassional possum (sorry, but yuck!)..no raccoons, no rodents (not a major loss) and in 1992, I saw the last fox in our area lying dead at the intersection of our neighborhood and a major road. So sad. I get giddy with excitement when one of us finds a snake in the yard....a rare find.
People talk about how much they HATE Miami. I have said the same thing myself more than once, but the truth is I LOVE Miami. I HATE the overpopulation and cookie cutter housing that has sprung up...right to the boundaries of the ENP. Sad and disgusting and it really pisses me off. Why can't there be a total building moratorium? There are enough houses for sale that they certainly do not need to build any new ones. Strip malls? Ugh, we have more than enough!
Miami is a really cool place. The Atlantic Ocean is only minutes away from wherever you are, as are the Everglades. An hour south are the Keys. There are beautiful, old areas in Miami that are rich with local history. There is something for everyone here...you just have to look. I love this place, I just wish half the population would disappear. Any half. Just go somewhere else so the building can stop, the traffic can become tolerable, and wandering bears aren't such a big deal.
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