When
A Family in Port St. Lucie recently got a surprise when they heard their dogs barking and discovered a black bear in their backyard. We used live in Seminole County and there were plenty of bears in that area. Here's the story on this local bear:
CBS12: Beware of the bear. That is the message going around Port St. Lucie right now after people reported sightings of a large black bear in one neighborhood. A wildlife expert said it is very uncommon to see black bears in that area and there could be a number of reasons why this particular bear was seen in the neighborhood. People in the neighborhood off of Savage Blvd. were really concerned about the bear sighting.It was right in Candace Boxall's backyard. "Our dog Skully saw him first and started barking, so we looked out there and we just saw this huge black shadow and it was clearly a bear and we were like 'oh my gosh' and we just got our phones out," said Boxall. "He kind of just walked around the patio for a while and just went into this area over here and we’ve heard that he’s moved a bit north now."
Where the bear is now is a mystery, but what brought him to Port St. Lucie in the first place is the bigger question. Amy Kight, Executive Director at Busch Wildlife Sanctuary Busch wildlife sanctuary said it could be a number of reasons. "It could be a wandering bear looking for a mate. It could also be that this animal lived in a certain area that was populated by bears and was low man on the totem pole," said Kight."They will start moving out of certain areas looking for new territory other bears don’t already exist."
Kight said to call Florida Fish and Wildlife if you see a bear.