Hungry bear raids garage fridge before taking snack to Florida lawn, videos show
A hungry bear rifled through a garage’s refrigerator — then took a snack onto a Florida lawn, video shows.
Jason Mickel said he was at his home in Sanford when a neighbor alerted him to the wild visitor on Saturday, July 9. He raced to the garage, worried that the bear was going to pull down his garbage can and ruin his wife’s car.
Instead, Mickel spotted the bear standing on its hind legs, raiding his fridge. The roughly 400- to 500-pound animal then started to leave the garage with a box in its mouth, video shows.
“Going to take all my food?” Mickel asks before the bear is seen turning toward him and then continuing onto the grass.
The bear made off with shrimp, beef patties and turkey burgers — but it didn’t go too far.
“He plopped himself right on the lawn and started eating what he took from the fridge,” Mickel told McClatchy News.
Another video clip shows the bear chowing down on a patch of grass on the side of a house. In all, the bear spent about 15 minutes near Mickel’s home in Sanford, roughly 25 miles northeast of Orlando and near the Black Bear Wilderness Area.
Mickel, who said a bear had roamed his neighborhood in the past, found a “safe spot” where he could capture the latest visitor on tape. But he also said he’s learned his lesson when it comes to keeping his garage door closed, especially when there’s food in the fridge.
Black bears are found throughout Florida and can weigh hundreds of pounds, according to the state’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
To help avoid encounters with the animals, the U.S. Forest Service urges people to put away pet food, remove bird feeders and keep trash in places that bears can’t access. Though black bears rarely hurt people, anyone who sees them should move away slowly, make noise and try to appear taller.
This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 8:45 AM with the headline "Hungry bear raids garage fridge before taking snack to Florida lawn, videos show."
