TOWN 'N' COUNTRY, Fla. — It's not every day you see a black bear in your neighborhood, but that was the reality for multiple Tampa Bay neighborhoods over Memorial Day Weekend.
It was a shock for Anthony Marinelli, who lives nearby.
"We've had the occasional surprise alligator in the pond here and there," he said. "I'm a big fan of living out here in Twelve Oaks because of the nature, because of the birds, because of all the creatures that come. But the bear was a big surprise for sure."
Marinelli just had to document. He grabbed this picture of a black bear in a tree just blocks away from his home.
"It was circulating on our little Facebook group page. And, you know, neighbors talking about 'Where is it? What are we going to do to keep my dogs safe?' Some neighbor had a chicken that went missing a couple of weeks ago, they were like, was it the bear? I'm like, oh, goodness," he recalled.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) says the bear was first spotted in Oldsmar and then spotted on camera again in the Town 'n' Country area.
In an effort to entice the bear from the tree, FWC set a trap equipped with donuts.
But the bear didn't bite. It eventually left on its own.
FWC advises that if the bear does happen to reappear, don't approach it and don't follow their lead by leaving food of your own out.
"We do not feed them in public. We are doing this solely for the purpose of doing a live trap. We would rather have them come down willingly, with motivation. We don't want to be using a tranquilizer," a representative for FWC said.
The other swirling question: How common are bears in Florida, especially Tampa?
FWC's interactive map shows that while they're much more common in other parts of the state, it's not out of the ordinary to see one in Tampa.
That's not surprising to Marinelli.
"I get obviously the scare. But we're coming in. We're building on their homes and moving them out. So it's only more confusing for them when they kind of are wondering where to go," Marinelli added.
During this time of year, bears are more active, with spring marking a return to activity for bears after limited movements in winter. During the spring and summer, juvenile bears (ages 1 ½ - 2 ½) are also starting to disperse and leave their mothers’ home ranges and may be seen in unexpected areas as they travel in search of a new location to settle down. Typically, these bears will move along on their own.
If you see a bear, give it space, don’t try to approach it, and never feed it.
It is not uncommon for bears to be in this area of the state. Seeing a bear in a neighborhood is not necessarily a cause for alarm.
However, it is important that residents secure food attractants so that bears do not linger in the area. If a bear cannot find food and is given space, it will move on. Feeding bears can make them lose their natural fear of people.
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