JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Families who live in the Bartram Springs area are on high alert after a bear was spotted in the neighborhood by serveral people Thursday evening and Friday morning.
Bartram Springs parents are worried because the bear was comfortable enough to get near some neighborhood children.
Police were called to check it out, but the bear was nowhere to be seen when they got there.
News4Jax has been following reports of bear sightings from Bartram Park to Nocatee over the past few months. Residents said even if all the sightings are of one bear, that's one too many for them.
Nicholas Sayid said he saw the bear up close by the townhomes at the entrance of the neighborhood and was scared.
“I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is crazy,” Sayid said. “To be honest, I've never seen a bear in real life until that point. I was like, 'Whoa!' I was pretty scared.”
He said he immediately wanted to warn his neighbors.
“Because it is pretty dangerous,” he said. “There's children in this neighborhood. There's trash cans everywhere.”
Officials with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said those trash cans are likely what's drawing the bear out of the woods.
They said they want people to continue to report bear sightings and reminded residents to do their part to get the bear back into the woods by removing all bird feeders and pet food outside and cleaning up all trash.
They believe if the bear runs out of food in the neighborhood it will naturally go back into the woods where it belongs.
For more advice on living BearWise, go to http://myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/managed/bear/wise/neighborhood.