Run in with Black Bear in Florence Oregon's Park Village
Posted by Dennis Pease on Monday, November 19th, 2007 at 2:12am.
Wow I had an exciting day showing homes in the Park Village neighborhood of Florence which is just east of Greentrees Village where there are known to be at least 17 Resident Black Bears living.
As I drove my client into Park Village towards the end of the street where the builders are finishing the last phase we drove up on a large Black Bear that looked 500 to 600 pounds standing in the middle of the street at 1:00PM in the afternoon, he was huge.
He stood there and watched us for a minute before he ran east across the street into a neighbors backyard. It was really exciting to see this huge bear in the middle of the day no more than 100 feet in front of us.
So we went about our business and went into 65 Park Village, which is across the street from where we saw the bear run into the forest. As we were looking through the home and I was explaining how Maxwell builds a great home, we went to the kitchen window that overlooks Greentrees Village to the west and I was explaining how the property corners were located down the bank a ways and we were discussing the possibilities of maximizing the landscaping when the huge bear appeared right in front of the window, not more that 20 feet from us, but he didn't see us initially. He was looking down into Greentress with the rain pouring we watched him shake off the rain from his massive coat. That was quite a scene in itself, then he turned his head around probably hearing us talking, looked us straight in the eye for a few moments and then ran down the embankment into Greentrees. To be that close, yet in the home so we felt safe was an adrenalin rush. It was quite an experience to look eye to eye with that huge bear no more than 20 feet away.
We spent another ten minutes in the house discussing the business at hand before we left. As we got out to my Expedition and unlocked the doors to climb in I looked ahead and there was the bear again only 75 to 100 feet ahead of us, in the middle of the road again just standing there watching us. Because we were right at my truck I knew we were completely safe and I was again just thrilled to see this magnificent creature. Just to see what his reaction would be I yelled "Get out of Here", and he turned and ran off.
The Black Bear is not known to be aggressive with humans, he was just looking for food and had no intentions of a conflict with us. I have heard many stories from residents of Greentrees that encounter them regularly. The problem in there is that there are certain people that think it's cool to feed them which is not only illegal but a very stupid thing to do. It puts everyone in the area at more of a risk, the bears become used to people and lose their fear of us. If you know of anyone feeding bears in this area I highly recommend that you report them to authorities and put a stop to this practice. Otherwise these bears will become more aggressive to humans to the point that they will have to be destroyed.
My biggest regret today is that I didn't have my camera with me. I have it with me at least 90% of the time.
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Share12 Responses to "Run in with Black Bear in Florence Oregon's Park Village"
Your story reminds me of my one of my first bear experiences. I was just out of college and had moved to Lake Tahoe to work at a ski resort for the winter. I was just moving into my new house when one of the roommates mentioned to watch out for the garbage bear. Garbage Bear? I laughed it off, they must have been pulling my leg. Later that night when returning from dinner I did indeed meet the garbage bear at close quarters. He was a large black bear that went through the neighborhood trash cans on a daily basis. Since then I've had run ins with a grizzly or two in Alaska and a small black bear while camping in PA.
Enough of my rambling about bear stories. They are majestic creatures and it's sad that they are running out of habitat.
This is one of the nicer looking Real Estate Blogs I have seen anywhere on the net.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:26 PM.
Dennis, are you sure this isn't just another Realtor/Bear story. lol It's to bad you didn't have your camera, those would of been some cool pics.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:27 PM.
That's funny Richard.
Unfortunately not everything about this story is funny. As I mentioned above there are people feeding them and just yesterday a bear was trying to break into someone’s home here in Florence, they called the police and the officers had to kill this large bear. It is unfortunate and that is definitely not their first course of action, but in this situation that is what it came down to. I just have to stress the fact that you should not feed the bears. It just encourages them to come back and get used to people. Then when they want more food they will break into homes, it’s not the first time this has happened. Bears that have not gotten used to people are much less likely to do this.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:29 PM.
Thats very unfortunate and sad. I think people think its cute and moreso that they're helping out the Bears by feading them, however its good that you're pointing out that's not the case.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:30 PM.
Very nice post...your story is a nice break from all the junk that we read on the 'net usually :) thanks.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:32 PM.
A second bear in two days has been shot and killed here in Florence. When these bears lose their fear of people they become more aggressive. The first bear killed yesterday charged a state trooper and he waited until the bear was approximately 3 feet away.
If you know of anyone feeding bears turn them in to authorities and maybe we can save more of these magnificent creatures.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:33 PM.
It is fun being a Realtor! You get to see all kinds of stuff when out showing property. :)
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:34 PM.
That is an amazing story. Here in Augusta I have to worry about the occasional dog, rabid squirrel, or maybe a deer in the road but that's about it. Thanks for sharing that Dennis!
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:36 PM.
I think you were being considered for a lunch snack! I've only been able to save a client from a rampaging scorpion.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:38 PM.
I lived in aspen CO for years and the summers were nuts. I came home one day form work and found a bear in my apartment destroying my frigator. It broke down the back door.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:40 PM.
What a great story. That would have been an excellent photo for this thread. Black bears are so beautiful...we have them here in Orlando as well, but I am yet to see a live one. Good for you.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:41 PM.
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Your post reminds of of living outside of Fairbanks. We didn't have trash service so we burned it and buried what was left. this was back in the 70s. A black bear would come through on occassion to see what scraps were available. That never bothered me unless I was out picking the wild raspberries or blueberries. It isn't exactly comforting to be close to one of those critters.
Posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 2:25 PM.