Rachel Smith shared the Ring-captured video of her fleeing the bear to Facebook. In the clip, Smith and her husband can be seen running into their house while calling for their dog, who runs in shortly after. A black bear appears in the clip and charges up to the home’s bushes before turning back.
“We had a scary experience with a bear tonight,” Rachel Smith wrote. “My dog was going potty outside and a bear was next door and charged us and chased us all the way to our front door! This was at 9:30 this evening.”
The Smiths told the Orlando Sentinel that bears are a common sight in their neighborhood near Wekiwa Springs. However, this was the first time that a bear had acted aggressively toward them.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission encourages all Floridians to be smart about black bears. They discourage feeding the wild animals, noting that a “fed bear is a dead bear.” They ask homeowners to secure their garbage to avoid enticing bears and walk dogs on a short leash. Bear sightings in neighborhoods should be reported to local FWC offices.
This article was first published at Orlando Weekly.
This article appears in Apr 28 – May 4, 2022.
