Bears at WDW?

[DVC~OKW~96]

No smart remarks now!

Seriously. Friends of ours are staying at PO (and then moving to WL) and they recieved a letter in their room telling them to be alert to the possibility of brown bears in the area?!

I've had letters in my room about mosquitos and the closing of pools at sunset because of the same, and about severe weather but never alerting me to bears!

 

[UKMark]

I'm not back there until October

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

It seems like there was mention of bears on the Resorts board the other day, but it was one of those things where my brain didn't really process the info properly. I hope they don't get on the savanna at AKL or we could have a bit of a "Wild Kingdom" experience!

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Whoooeee! That would be ... geez, I can't even imagine!

UKMark!

 

[rpmdfw]

A friend of ours lives over near the Nickelodeon resort and had a bear coming into his stairwell this week to forage in people's garbage. They successfully trapped it last night.

There have been other reports of bears across Central Florida for the past few weeks, so I can't imagine that WDW, with all of its undeveloped spaces would be immune to having them.

 

[zeitzeuge]

We were just there a few weeks ago! I'm surprised the authorities weren't alerted...

 

[itsmuggsie]

seeing the title of this thread, I really thought it was a question for gaydays

Central Fl has bears, we have a monkey that has been roaming Pinellas County for months, authorities can't seem to catch him.

 

[kamik86]

I really wouldn't worry too much about bears. Take precautions yes but don't worry about them. If your staying in the camp ground be careful not to drop food, and definitely don't just toss leftovers out behind your campsite!! Do not keep the food where you are sleeping either as bears (as well as many other critters) have good noses and just may decide the tent (or canvas part of your camper) is not enough of a deterant.

Food is best kept locked in your car when camping. (Harder to smell, harder to break into, and even if they try at least your not in it).

We had a bear at a girl scout camp I worked at. He kept pawing at the dumpster and walking around the grounds. We were extra careful to make sure the girls didn't keep food in there bags and didn't have any problems. I think it helped that earlier that year someone forgot a lunch box at one of the fields overnight (normally they are kept in the lodge) and it was torn to shreds the next morning... but we don't thinkt that was the bear it looked like something smaller did that one.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I was working a private party at Typhoon Lagoon years ago, well before the West Side was built. A panther was walking right through the park, amongst the guests!

We called control....

"Yep, thats usually where he is at 1:30am"

WDW has just about every type of wild animal that you would find in Central Florida.

 

[I<3EvilQueen]

I would have loved to see a panther and a bear.... Of course from a distance

 

[MonorailMan]

Remember when that alligator was found in the water at the entrance of Splash Mountain a few years ago? It seems WDW should be featured on Animal Planet.

 

[I<3EvilQueen]

Remember when that alligator was found in the water at the entrance of Splash Mountain a few years ago? It seems WDW should be featured on Animal Planet.

The new slogan should be:

Walt Disney World...where even members of the animal kingdom comes for vacation.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Remember when that alligator was found in the water at the entrance of Splash Mountain a few years ago? It seems WDW should be featured on Animal Planet.

That was a classic!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1ZqrnJkQuQ

 

[skiingfast]

I wouldn't worry about Black Bears in Florida. Black Bears don't hunt humans, to a large extent they are on the herbavor end of the omnivor spectrum.

A Panther though, would make me keep the kids close.

 

[MonorailMan]

I can see it now.....
Several gay men leaving their rooms.....seeing the bear......and then simultaneously yelling, "WOOF!"

 

[zeitzeuge]

I can see it now.....
Several gay men leaving their rooms.....seeing the bear......and then simultaneously yelling, "WOOF!"

Silly....we say Woof! to someone who's a Wolf! We say Grrr! to someone who's a bear. And.....not sure what we say to an Otter......

Seriously though, never understood why we say Woof to a bear since bears don't go Woof.....

 

[TagsMissy]

I would have wondered which kind of bear you meant if I hadn't already known about the bear warning at POR...

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Well, these are reportedly brown bears, not black bears, so that would be a bit of a difference.

I'm not sure why they are being seen more often? Is something going on with nature? I mean it's not like when we had so much rain areas were ground flooded and we saw an increase in visibility of poisonous snakes!

I'd steer clear of a bear for sure.

I would have LOVED to have seen the panther. I used to live in the Ft. Myers area and it is "known" for having some of the elusive panthers there. I used to watch, and watch, and watch but never saw one.

Disney does have some beautiful unimproved areas so it's no surprise that there is wildlife, I was just surprised to learn that the bears were venturing into populated areas.

 

[Crashdown]

I can confirm: my "in-laws" got the letter in their room warning them about the Bear. They were staying Port Orleans River Side. Last week. We were at Bay Lake Tower (no bears). This was also my first time to see 'Country Bear Jamboree' so, of course, many jokes were made how they were missing a bear. However, we saw no bears.....