Franklin County will get just over 680 thousand dollars to ensure that county residents can have bear proof garbage cans.
The line item was in the state budget that was approved by Governor Ron Desantis last week.
County commissioners applied for the money in 2022.
Commissioners hope that the cans will not only save residents the hassle of having to pick up their trash multiple times a week, but will also give the black bears less of an incentive to wander into neighborhoods.
Florida is home to an estimated 6000 black bears which cover a large portion of the state, with about 1000 in Franklin and surrounding counties.
With more bears, there is a much greater chance of human/bear interaction and also a greater need for people to act responsibly.
Bears can get all of the food they need from the woods, but they will go anywhere where food is easily available.
Garbage cans, pet food and dirty grills are some of their favorite spots.
State officials get about 170 calls a year from Franklin County about bears and about a quarter of the calls are about bears in residential garbage.
The primary response to those calls is to tell the person to secure their trash.
If that doesn’t work, then the bear is either captured and moved or it is killed.
The state has killed about 62 bears in Franklin County in the past 10 years.
The problem is that removing or killing the bear does not solve the problem – there is always another bear to take its place.
But securing trash does fix the problem, studies done in Florida have shown a 66 percent drop in bear related calls when household garbage is secured.
The line item was in the state budget that was approved by Governor Ron Desantis last week.
County commissioners applied for the money in 2022.
Commissioners hope that the cans will not only save residents the hassle of having to pick up their trash multiple times a week, but will also give the black bears less of an incentive to wander into neighborhoods.
Florida is home to an estimated 6000 black bears which cover a large portion of the state, with about 1000 in Franklin and surrounding counties.
With more bears, there is a much greater chance of human/bear interaction and also a greater need for people to act responsibly.
Bears can get all of the food they need from the woods, but they will go anywhere where food is easily available.
Garbage cans, pet food and dirty grills are some of their favorite spots.
State officials get about 170 calls a year from Franklin County about bears and about a quarter of the calls are about bears in residential garbage.
The primary response to those calls is to tell the person to secure their trash.
If that doesn’t work, then the bear is either captured and moved or it is killed.
The state has killed about 62 bears in Franklin County in the past 10 years.
The problem is that removing or killing the bear does not solve the problem – there is always another bear to take its place.
But securing trash does fix the problem, studies done in Florida have shown a 66 percent drop in bear related calls when household garbage is secured.
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