Lake Bosse Oaks

May.June 2011

 

 

Look!  There’s A Bear      by Debi Walter

Although it may be your ordinary black bear, it’s no ordinary bear for us!  The first sighting happened a few days ago when Melodye Jones walked out her front door.  She was shocked to see a baby bear prowling around Bob and Bonnie Anderson’s driveway.  Once Danny came out to see it for himself, the little guy was walking toward Lake Bosse Drive, most likely looking for Mama Bear.  

This morning Ken Barber called to say he and Dale Ann saw the Mama Bear rustling through the trees behind their home on Lake Bosse Drive.  I suggested he call The Florida Game Commission, which he did.  He was simply told that there is nothing they can do about it, except alert all the neighbors as to how to live with Black Bears!  

 

That’s it?!?  I’m afraid so.

 

It looks like we have new residents, or should I say pilferers living “literally” in our neck of the woods.  We must be wise and observant of our surroundings.  They love garbage and bird feeders.  The Wildlife officers suggested keeping our garbage locked up and remove all bird feeders.  Another neighbor left their screen door open one night and discovered their garbage cans on the back porch had been knocked over and completely ransacked.  

 

So, it’s time to make the necessary changes in our daily habits in order to be safe.  We’ve provided an excellent resource on page ___ to help you understand the black bear better. 

“Look!  There’s a bear...”(and we’re not kidding,)”...it’s over THERE!”

 

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President’s Corner

by Donna Kress

All signs of spring and even summer seem to be upon us. Our neighborhood, as the name indicates is characterized by its many beautiful oak trees. Those oak trees do bring with them a lot of work and maintenance. 

It is nice to see the pride that the Lake Bosse homeowners take in keeping their properties in order. Current times bring many responsibilities, families, and all alike have busy schedules. We have to juggle between those many responsibilities of jobs, children, family, social and everything else.  

It is commendable to anybody with these responsibilities that there is still time left to do the yard work, and keep your property beautiful. 

As most of you are working around your properties, I thought that I would take this opportunity to highlight a few of the key Covenants and Restrictions of Lake Bosse Oaks.

In keeping with the aesthetics of our planned development, below are a few items to remember:

• Keep lots mowed, weeded and free of debris; (yard debris, construction materials, garbage, soil, rock, etc.)
• Remove any dead or dying trees, shrubs, or bedding plants.
• Trash container and bins are not to be visible from street or neighboring properties.
• Dumping of any materials on property.
• Accumulation of fallen leaves.
• Parking vehicles anywhere other than the street or paved surfaces.

One doesn’t have to travel very far outside of Lake Bosse Oaks to witness firsthand the neighborhoods where owners don’t care, don’t have homeowners associations, or are not appreciative for what they have.

To this end, I want to thank each of you for your care and cooperation in keeping our neighborhood beautiful, and for abiding by the Deed Covenants and Restrictions.  

 

Neighborhood Watch

We are in the process of restarting our official Neighborhood Watch Program.  Please see the flyer attached for all the IMPORTANT information concerning this initiative.  It is imperative we have the majority of all homeowners present, in order to have the full support of the Sheriff’s Department.  We must realize that a safe neighborhood helps all of us and provides the best environment for raising families.  Kathy Turner is heading up this effort.  If you have any questions you can contact her directly with the number provided on the flyer.  

 

 

 

On another more urgent note - we have a family of black bears who have taken up residence in our woods behind the home on Lake Bosse Drive.  Please read the information below provided by the Florida Game and Wildlife Commission’s website on how to live with bears.  

 

 

 

Living With Black Bears

 

 

 

Problems arise when bears have access to food sources such as pet foods, garbage, barbecue grills, bird seed or even livestock feed. Bears are adaptable and learn very quickly to associate people with food. Even though black bears are normally too shy to risk contact with humans, their powerful need to find food can overwhelm this fear.

 

Bears can smell food from over a mile away. Bears will travel great distances to track down these tasty smells and often cross roadways and bridges to do so- which creates risk to not only themselves, but to motorists as well.

 

Bears are driven by their need to eat, so anything that is easily accessible and can be eaten is a potential bear attractant. Pre-sently, garbage is by far the biggest bear attractant in Florida.  The calories a bear can consume by picking through one gar-bage can often surpasses the forage they can find in an entire day.

 

 

 

It is important to keep the temptation of garbage away from bears, because the more " food conditioned" (dependent on a food source) they become, the more likely they are to frequent residential areas and cause  property damage to get these unnatural food sources.

 

 

 

Bears are very intelligent animals that can be attracted into residential and other human-occupied areas. Over time, they become "habituated," and gradually loose their fear of humans.  These bears will usually return more frequently and tend to become bolder around people.

Once bears find an area that has food they will continue to forage in the area until the food source is removed. It takes some time (up to several weeks) even after preventative methods have been implemented before the persistent bear will understand that the food source is no longer available.

Preventing access to food is the most important thing you can do to keep bears wild and out of your neighborhood.

The more a bear becomes dependent on unnatural foods, the less likely its chances of survival. Once bears lose their fear of people, there is often little hope to make the bear wild again. These habituated and food conditioned bears are often killed, either by vehicle collisions, illegal shooting, or as a result of bear management actions to keep the community safe.

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