Second attack this month: Black bear caught on camera lunging at Daytona Beach man and dogs
A Daytona Beach man and his dogs were attacked by a black bear on Wednesday, the second incident this week in Volusia County, and this time it was all caught on camera.
A home security video posted to TikTok by the victim's wife showed the man and his dogs on a screened porch when a black bear appears at the open door.
The bear climbs over a small dog gate, knocking it to the ground as the three dachshunds approach, the scene erupting into a chaotic mix of growls, shouts and barks.
The man dives toward the bear, wrestling it outside and tossing a plastic bucket towards it.
The bear tries again to enter the porch, but the man quickly blocks the doorway with a bench. The video lasts only 10 seconds.
The incident took place about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in an unincorporated neighborhood west of Daytona Beach surrounded by vast tracts of forest, according to reports.
"Update. Dogs and my husband are ok. Husband has to start rabies shots today so he's nervous," the woman commented Thursday on the TikTok.
"He's got puncture wounds and scratches but not enough for an ambulance or anything," she told the Volusia County Sheriff's Office in a 7:35 p.m. call obtained by The News-Journal.
"Did it bite you or was that just claws?" she asked her husband.
"This was claws. I don't know what this is," the man replied from the background.
The man’s dogs were not injured, according the the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
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If found, the bear will be euthanized
Before hanging up the phone, the dispatcher asks one last question: "Is the bear still out there?"
"We don't know. It's dark out there now," the woman replied.
FWC said it immediately sent out bear biologists and law enforcement officers, who have been unable to capture the bear so far. They canvassed the neighborhood Thursday to make residents aware and offer tips for avoiding conflicts with bears.
"Per FWC policy, staff will humanely kill the bear if captured since it poses a threat to human safety," the agency said in a news release.
FWC noted it was unusual to have two attacks in such a short span of time.
"While this is the second incident of a bear injuring a person within a week’s time, these incidents are extremely rare in Florida. The FWC receives up to 6,000 bear-related calls a year and have documented only 15 incidents of people being moderately to seriously injured by bears in more than 50 years," the news release stated.
Second bear attack in Florida county this week
Less than a week earlier, on Jan. 13, a black bear attacked and injured a woman who was walking her dog after dark in nearby DeBary.
The woman told a sheriff's deputy that when she was running, the bear threw her on the ground. She had scratches on her back, face and hands, but her dog was unhurt.
The bear and her two yearling cubs were subsequently found in a tree, according to FWC. A biologist darted the adult bear and then killed the animal humanely, a news release said.
The 100-pound yearlings were old enough to survive on their own so FWC officers did not try to capture them.
How to reduce bear risk
FWC offers some tips for avoiding human-bear conflicts:
Remove or secure all food attractants from around your house and yard, including garbage, pet food and bird seed.
To avoid an encounter between a bear and your dog, bang on your door and flip your house lights on and off to give the bear time to leave the area before letting your dog out.
If your dog and a bear get into a fight, make noise and use your bear spray or a water hose if available.
If the bear makes contact with you, fight back aggressively.
Anyone who feels threatened by a bear is asked to call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922). The FWC advises calling the hotline if you see a sick, injured, dead or orphaned bear; or to report someone who is either harming bears or intentionally feeding them. To learn more about bears and how to avoid conflicts with them, visit MyFWC.com/Bear or BearWise.org.
Staff write Frank Fernandez contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona Beach black bear attacking man, dogs on porch caught on video
