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Take Your Child to Look for Signs of Bear

Take your child to look for signs of bear. In loose sand or mud, their tracks are readily seen and easily recognized -- human-like tracks three to five inches long (front paw), with a wide pad and five oval toe prints. In an area bears are known to frequent, rake an area of loose dirt one evening and come back the next morning to examine it. Hopefully your sand canvas will have been visited by bears and other animals, including Florida mice, cotton rats, bobcats and snakes.

The presence of bears is also obvious by small trees that have been pulled over and broken off in the bears' search for acorns. Sometimes you will find claw scrapes or chew marks on trees, and sometimes the tree will be toppled by a black bear that was heavier than the tree could bear. Bear scat (droppings) is the third sign to look for. It will be larger than your hand and somewhat dog-like. Bits of acorn shell and palmetto berries will be easily identified.