A black bear let itself into a Naples backyard over the weekend, ate through a pile of trash out front, then helped itself to an alcoholic drink from an outdoor refrigerator on the patio.
Homeowner Celine Emerson told WSVN the animal got in through an unlocked gate. She noticed something was wrong when she spotted the fridge standing open.
“I turned around and saw the refrigerator was open, and I was like, I yelled at my husband, you know, ‘Can you check the cameras?'” Emerson said.
Security footage showed the bear, which Emerson estimated at about 6 feet tall when it stood up.
“Oh, it was just crazy, it was so unusual to see it, like, so close to us,” she said. “It was a little scary seeing him out here, and then when he stood up, he looked pretty tall, like 6 feet.”
Before hitting the fridge, the bear spent roughly 30 minutes working through trash in the front yard.
“It ate the trash in the front yard for 30 minutes. I figured he was thirsty,” Emerson said of the animal’s decision to grab a drink next.
The next morning, Emerson found a large paw print left behind on her kitchen counter.
She said the break-in has her reconsidering how carefully she secures the property, especially with a granddaughter who will soon be old enough to play in the yard.
“We don’t close it when we leave, come and go at nighttime,” Emerson admitted. “So maybe that, as our granddaughter gets older, obviously, you know, we’re going to be a little more cautious with things like that.”
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says bears eat more aggressively in the fall as they build fat reserves ahead of winter, which drives more encounters with people during this time of year. Florida’s black bear population is estimated at around 4,000.
