The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has passed a law that will take effect Monday banning people from intentionally feeding raccoons, bears, foxes and sandhill cranes. The commission wants to protect people and the animals and keep the critters from getting too comfortable with humans.

"When people feed wildlife, the animals become less wary of humans in general," said Joy Hill, public information coordinator for the commission's northeast regional office in Ocala. "When this happens, they lose their natural fear and can become dangerous or cause considerable property damage."

Violators can be charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by a $500 fine and 60 days in jail. Officials will enforce the rule by responding to complaints. But the commission is more interested in raising awareness about the dangers of feeding wild animals than writing tickets.

"Unfortunately, people who feed wildlife are not only exposing themselves to safety and health risks and property damage, they are likely killing the critters with kindness," Hill said. "Very often, habituated wildlife ends up being euthanized because, in most cases, it cannot be successfully relocated."

Raccoons quickly grow accustomed to people feeding them, said Karen Inman, president of St. Johns Wildlife Care Inc., which rehabilitates injured wild animals. The animals know when and where the free food is going to be.

"They will do it every day at a certain time," Inman said. "You can set a clock and they'll be there."

But one raccoon can turn into 25, and that is a nuisance to the whole neighborhood, Hill said. The animals tip over trash cans and tear through screen doors.

Inman is looking after about 30 young or injured raccoons. In 2001, she rehabilitated 171 raccoons.

Bears are not common in St. Johns County, Hill said. The commission only received three bear complaints in the county 2001. None have been reported this year, Hill said. The rest of the 14-county northeast region received more than 500 complaints last year.

Most wild animals face a greater threat from a shrinking habitat, but feeding them also endangers them, Inman said.

A raccoon, for example, will cross as many streets as it has to every day to get to someone's kitchen door where food is waiting.

"You're not helping the wildlife by doing this," Inman said. "You're really signing their death warrant by doing this."

Inman supports the spirit of the law and what it is trying to achieve, but she's worried more raccoons will suffer because of it. Trappers responding to complaints euthanize the animals, she said.

"I don't know how this law is going to work," she said.