Connecticut has passed a law allowing bears to be shot if they are or are about to injure people or pets or enter a building occupied by people. Florida is considering a similar but broader measure.
As black bear populations have increased across the United States, more people and bear conflicts are occurring. Before 1960, bears had been considered a problem to be taken care of. In most states, they could be shot as pests. There was a legacy understanding – bears make for bad neighbors. Bears would kill your pigs, destroy your apple orchards, and your bee hives. Before 1950, a large majority of people understood bears could make the difference between hunger and plenty. If they had not experienced farm life themselves, their parents and grandparents had. In the 2020s, people in suburbia are re-learning what their great-grandparents knew a hundred years ago. Bears make bad neighbors. From Little House in the Big Woods:
Pa owned a pig. It ran wild in the Big Woods, living on acorns and nuts and roots. Now he caught it and put it in a pen made of logs, to fatten. He would butcher it as soon as the weather was cold enough to keep the pork frozen.
Once in the middle of the night Laura woke up and heard the pig squealing. Pa jumped out of bed, snatched his gun from the wall, and ran outdoors. Then Laura heard the gun go off, once, twice.
When Pa came back, he told what had happened. He had seen a big black bear standing beside the pigpen. The bear was reaching into the pen to grab the pig, and the pig was running and squealing. Pa saw this in the starlight and he fired quickly. But the light was dim and in his haste he missed the bear. The bear ran away into the woods, not hurt at all.
Laura was sorry Pa did not get the bear.
Laura was sorry because bear meat was very good to eat. People today have difficulty believing having enough to eat was a significant worry for most people before 1900.
In April of 2023, a bear in Connecticut was killed by state agents after breaking into numerous homes in Connecticut. Bear problems have been increasing in the state for many years, along with an increasing bear population. The legislature crafted a statute to restore the historical norm. If a bear posed an imminent threat to people or pets the people could kill the bear. The bill passed in June of 2023. It went into effect on October 1, 2023. From ct.gov.com:
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any person from using deadly physical force to kill a bear if such person reasonably believes that a bear is: (1) Inflicting or is about to inflict great bodily harm to a human, (2) injuring or killing such person’s pet that is otherwise controlled in accordance with any applicable provision of the general statutes or any regulation adopted pursuant to such a provision, or (3) entering a building occupied by persons.
Florida is considering a similar bill, SB632:
379.40411 Taking of bears; use of lethal force in defense of person.—
(1)(a)The use of lethal force to take a bear without a permit or authorization required under this chapter is justified if a person feels threatened and believes that using such force is necessary to protect himself or herself on his or her private property.
The proposed Florida statute is more comprehensive than the Connecticut statute. Bears, which spend a lot of time in suburban neighborhoods become serious problems. The Florida bear population has grown significantly. It was over 4,350 in 2016, roughly double what it was in 2006. With a natural increase, the bear population is expected to be over seven thousand in 2024.
Humans decide how many problems created by bears they are willing to tolerate in different areas. Black bear populations in Florida and Connecticut are not threatened. They are growing.
Eventually, there will be sufficient conflicts for suburban problems to overcome Disney programming. Pressure will be exerted on the legislature to allow people to protect themselves, their property, and their pets. Bears are fine in their place. Like all animals, it is up to humans to decide what places bears are allowed to occupy.
About Dean Weingarten:
Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.
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