ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35 ORLANDO) -
People in the Villa Brantley area of Altamonte Springs are having close encounters with a large bear. It has knocked over their trash cans several times looking for food.
The bear has been spotted on Doris Street and Andrew Street in October and again this past weekend. A woman who took several photos tells us the bear pushed over her fence while passing through.
Paige Vegosen watched the bear walk through her yard last week. She says it's very large and she wants families to be careful with their children and pets. "I don't think he'd attack them, he is probably more scared but you never know."
Dave Longest had a close encounter several days ago. "He's about this high and stands up and walks just like you and I-only faster."
Longest says the bear has been tearing through trash cans on his street, feasting on anything it can find.
He says, "When I came out that morning, that trash can was laying in the back yard and the trash was all over the place out here."
Longest wants wildlife experts to remove the big animal. "Catch it and put it in an area where someone can take care of the animal rather than the animal hurting somebody."
Fish and Wildlife officials say there are more than three thousand black bears in Florida and he males have a range of sixty thousand acres, so the odds are you could have a close encounter too.
