A black bear that was wandering Winter Garden streets in a neighborhood the past several days was trapped by wildlife officials overnight and will be released in the Ocala National Forest.

  • 150-pound bear was causing "ruckus" in Winter Garden
  • FWC says it will relocate the bear to the Ocala National Forest

The 150-pound female bear was being held in a cage in a yard just southeast of downtown Winter Garden. The visiting bear was caught in the backyard of a home on Kennedy Street.

The trap was set by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission with food lining the cage to entice the animal. The bear waited several hours in the trap for FWC to haul it away. At one point, the bear yawned and even tried to take a nap.  

Before the bear was caught, it was waking some residents up in the middle of the night.

"I heard a loud ruckus," said Miguel Cisneros, a Winter Garden resident. "It woke me up. It was like 3 a.m., almost 4 a.m. when I woke up, and it was a 5-foot bear. It was the craziest thing I've seen so far."

Fish and Wildlife officials suspect the bear was attracted to the area because of the many trash cans left on the street or near homes throughout the week.

Tiffany Kelly, who lives in the area, said she might think twice about letting her son walk to school.

"The kids may think that it's like a bear that's in a cartoon, and they may want to approach it," she said.

Sheila Jernigan said a bear has been causing quite the commotion since last weekend. She said the animal was standing at her front door on Saturday. The next day, the same bear was in a tree, she said. 

"I'm glad that they finally came out to the neighborhood, and we would like them to put another cage out so we catch any more loose bears," Jernigan said 

An FWC spokesperson said black bears typically begin moving more during this time of the year in search of food as they prepare to hibernate for the winter.

The bear will be relocated to the Ocala National Forest.


The bear has been on the run for the past few days, but he was finally caught. (Vincent Earley, staff)