Friendly Bear Cubs Found on Florida Road Baffle Deputy
A Florida sheriff’s deputy responded to an unusual call on December 5 after a man encountered a pair of unusually friendly bear cubs on a rural road in Okaloosa County in the early hours of the morning.
The man who found the cubs near Baker noticed that they weren’t the black bears that are normally found in northwest Florida, and the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed the bears were Kodiaks, a subspecies of brown and grizzly bears native to Alaska’s Kodiak Peninsula.
Police bodycam video shows the bears approaching the deputy and the man and exploring their vehicles without hesitation, startling the deputy.
“They’re completely friendly,” the man tells the deputy.
“I’m still a little timid, I’m not going to lie!” she replies.
“They’re clearly domesticated,” the man adds.
The video then shows the deputy calling for support and describing to her colleague how the bears were unafraid of people. “They’ll walk right up to you, and they’ll let you pet them,” she says. “Not the call I was expecting, for sure!”
Bear experts from Florida Fish and Wildlife transported the cubs to a secure location, and investigation found they had escaped from “an inadequate enclosure at a residence on Old River Road where a self-proclaimed bear trainer lives,” according to the sheriff’s office. The resident is now facing various Florida wildlife violations, they said. Credit: Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office via Storyful
Video Transcript
- Well, hello.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- Where in the world?
- I don't know. But I couldn't let them sit out here. They're coming straight up to the vehicle. I couldn't stop. And I couldn't-- I had to call somebody.
- Where-- where did you pick them up at?
- They were right here. I stopped right here and called the Sheriff Department.
- OK.
- They say there's a zoo somewhere close by.
- OK. Well, hello.
- They're friendly. They'll try to get in a truck with you. They want to check out everything.
- All right.
- Yeah, they're completely friendly.
- I'm still a little timid. I ain't going to lie. Oh, hello. I wonder if they're from the zoo. Or if it's--
- Got to be.
- --mama or--
- They're not black bears.
- Yeah, they're-- wow. Ooh, hello.
- Oh, [MUTED]
- [LAUGHS]
- Quit being dumb. The bigger one's a little bit pushy. I got you. Now. Go on. Git, git. [INAUDIBLE]. They want food or something.
- Yeah.
- They're clearly domesticated. He's just going to end up in the back of my damn truck and all. Come on. Come on. Come on.
- OK.
[LAUGHTER]
- Come on. Hey.
- Oh, no, I feel claws. I don't like claws. No claws.
- You might want to get back in your truck. They're going to check you out.
- No, quit.
- He said he found them in this area.
- They were right on the side in the ditch right here.
- They're like-- oh, crap, don't tear up my car please. They're climbing on my car.
- [INAUDIBLE]
- Yeah, I'm going to get back in my car.
- Uh-huh.
- All right. Bye-bye. All right. I'm going to try to get photos, so I can show wildlife.
- I believe they're brown or-- they're brown or grizzly. They're not black bears. Don't you bite me. I'll punch you in the nose.
- Yeah, don't let it bite you.
- No, no.
- They don't look like black bears. We're thinking either brown bears or grizzly bear cubs.
- And they're all over me. See that's juvenile black bears.
- Oh, yeah, they're not black bears.
- They're brown or grizzly. Pretty certain they're grizzly.
- That one is crawling all over my car. It's-- it's like they're not afraid of people. Because they'll walk right up to you. And they'll let you pet them, and they're very curious. But--
- Yeah, I would be terrified that mama would be around the corner.
- Yeah, that's why I'm back in my car. But, I mean, they've already got big claws. Because they stand on their hind legs, and you can feel them.
- OK, the shenanigans at 3:30 AM.
- Yeah, not the call I was expecting, for sure.
