Lifestyles Of The Bearly Rich...

Two Thanksgivings ago, a turkey wandered into our
back yard on the edge of the preserve.
Lucky turkey. A neighbor across the street lives
near Heron Lake, which is behind his home.
He’s had Eastern Diamondback snakes
coming from the lake, making their way into his yard,
and he’s fired his rifle at them.

I’m glad that I didn’t tell him about the recent bobcat
and bear sighting in our neighborhood.
The black bear was lumbering up the main entrance
street of our community. Later that day, it was
spotted coming out of the bushes at a busy
intersection about a half-mile away.

There have been numerous bear sightings in
Collier County in the last few months.
Some of the bears seem to prefer the country
club lifestyle, since they’re often sighted around
the resorts on or near the Gulf beaches.

The bear that we’d seen was recently caught in
Naples and transported to the Picayune Preserve.
It wasn’t long before the discriminating bear was seen
in affluent Palm Beach County.