Sid Taylor, Division of Forestry at Tillis Hill had her first bear sighting (in her twenty years here) 1/2 mile S of Tillis Hill on Dec. 28. She suspects it was a young male looking for territory from the Chassahowitzka area. She found the tracks the next morning. She hopes he stays…but admits he will have to find a female and bring her back here. She has only confirmed one other track here in her career and no confirmed sightings. Taylor was on the Chassahowitzka Working Bear Group for her first 8 or 10 years. There were less than twenty bears at height of the count. So it is a big deal that a cub grew to 2 1⁄2 years and survived his trip across US 19 to get into Citrus Tract of Withlacoochee State Forest (not that she interviewed him.)
To report a bear sighting to Florida Wildlife Commission go to: https://public.myfwc.com/fwri/blackbear/getlatlong.aspx