Man saves 375-pound bear from drowning

[ashlee1228]

Man saves 375-pound bear from drowning
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll...807010322/1010

Adam Warwick's love for animals is earning him marriage proposals and endless interviews with everyone from "Good Morning America" to Fox News Network. Why?

He rescued a 375-pound black bear from drowning in the Gulf of Mexico off Alligator Point. This hero's story started Saturday when residents spotted the bear roaming their neighborhood in Alligator Point, just 40 miles from Tallahassee, and called the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The male bear hid under a beachfront home. Fish & Wildlife representatives shot it with a tranquilizer dart so they could move it to a remote location in the wild. But the gigantic bear didn't immediately respond to the drug.

Instead, it bolted into the Gulf. Warwick, 31, a 200-pound Sopchoppy biologist with Fish & Wildlife, noticed the bear displaying signs of distress as it swam. He dived in.

"It was just the spur of the moment," he said. "I'd never be able to live with myself if he drowned."

He kept one arm under the bear. The other gripped the bear's neck to keep its head above water. The bear's claws scraped the tops of Warwick's feet below the water's surface. Oyster shells pierced the bottoms of his feet.

And, he said, he swallowed a lot of saltwater.

"I'm a good swimmer. I used to watch a lot of 'Baywatch,'" he said jokingly.

He got the animal back to shore. Thad Brett, a general contractor, loaded it into the bucket of a backhoe.

"It's good to have good guys like (Warwick) around," Brett said by news release. "We're real glad to have the FWC come out and help us."

Warwick said his agency typically gets no more than two reports of bear spottings near Alligator Point in a year. More reports come from Carrabelle and Lanark Village, where vegetation is thicker, Fish & Wildlife spokesman Henry Cabbage said.

This bear, meanwhile, has been relocated to the Osceola National Forest near Lake City. As for the three marriage proposals, Warwick isn't interested: He already has a wife, Joyce.

"I guess," he said, "this is my 15 minutes (of fame)."

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[EDDE]

yup hes an idiot

[Bassfish]

Cool Story!!

[WindHarvester]

Great story!

Thanks for sharing.

[Montana Jim]

It was ... but very freaking cool...

There is a very thin line between bravery and stupidity. I think he walked with one foot on both sides this time!

[pegleglooker]

In one way you want to say that the guy is a NUT !!! Then on the other... one helluva nice job. But I bet he would ONLY do that while the bear was nearly out. I found myself saying.. ahhhhh no, I couldn't and wouldn't do that. So my hats off to him.

PLL

[Bridge End Farm]

nice post and a wonderful story. He was a big one for a florida black bear. They are coming back from all the bears that were placed in Tate's Hell WMA over the years. Glad they did go after him as they shot him.

[RON (PA)]

Great job. I don't know if I could have done that. But your right, there was that fine line between insane and brave.

[cptbil]

IS There Anyone out there
That could/would have
Just stood there onshore
and
Just
Watched that BEAR Drown?

[Bassfish]

IS There Anyone out there
That could/would have
Just stood there onshore
and
Just
Watched that BEAR Drown?

Not I

[ashlee1228]

IS There Anyone out there
That could/would have
Just stood there onshore
and
Just
Watched that BEAR Drown?

no cptbil i couldnt either, my heart is too big for my own good...

[Bridge End Farm]

IS There Anyone out there
That could/would have
Just stood there onshore
and
Just
Watched that BEAR Drown?

nope I'd have to go get him too, hope he has found a nice new place to call home in the Osceola Forest.

[BOSCOZ]

WOW, GREAT MAN.

[Burdie]

Holy cow what a story.

Burdie

[BIG61AL]

I think he was extremly brave