A bear got a bit too close to this Florida woman’s home. Then he took a dip in the pool
With all that heavy fur, we can imagine a bear would want to cool off as Florida heats up.
And one found the perfect place: an attractive Naples-area home with a pool.
Karen Bockrath joked to NBC2 that the animal, who appears to be a Florida black bear, visits her house lately so much that she started calling him her “pet.”
At first, the retired nurse noticed her back yard screen door was ripped about a month ago.
Soon after, she saw what had done the damage: a good-sized bear lounging on the lanai. The unwanted guest has also been spotted taking a dip several times since. In one picture she sent to the Miami Herald, it’s seen in the shallow end, chillaxing.
“At least he’s kind enough to use the same door he made in my screen for each visit,” Bockrath joked.
In another picture taken last September, the bear is standing on its hind legs with its paws against the window looking in to the pool area.
Bockrath said she had been playing soft rock music and thinks the bear may have been attracted to the sounds.
So how unsettling is it having a possibly aggressive animal in her midst?
“It was only scary when he came up to my sliders and was checking out my living room,” said the Florida woman. “I really hope he doesn’t think my new couch looks comfy.”
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Bockrath estimates the bear is about 7 years old because she’s spotted him in the area of Golden Gates Estates, just east of Naples, for years.
“When he was a cub, his mom would always be in the backyard with him and his brother. I’d see him walking in the yard a couple times a week.”
The homeowner says she has yet to call animal control.
“I love watching wildlife,” she said. “I’m really afraid they would euthanize him. The mom is still around. I live in an area that hasn’t been completely built up, lots of wooded area, lots of bears among other wild animals. My kids say I live in a zoo.”
Bockrath called a company to replace the screen shortly after he made the hole, but no one has come out yet.
“It’s only one panel so it’s not high on their to-do list,” she said. “But not really sure how to make it secure from a bear.”
