DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A Daytona Beach homeowner suddenly found himself under attack after a bear ran onto his own front porch, the second such attack in the area within a week.
Walter Hickox’s doorbell camera captured the frightening wildlife encounter, Wednesday night.
“It got me in the shoulder with incisors, I guess, or canines, and scatched my back with its paw,” he said.
The homeowner said he was on his way out to walk his dog when he came face to face with the four-legged intruder.
“All I could see is the radar beam on my dog and screaming and clapping didn’t make him look at me,” he said. “The bear] didn’t break his concentration. He continued to pursue.”
Hickox said he tried to distract the bear, and what felt like several seconds was over in a flash as he threw a bench against the doorway to block the animal.
“One of the things I saw in the middle of it was this Yogi Bear look on his face,” he said. “His head was cocked to the side, like, ‘What the hell are you screaming about?'”
This is the second bear attack in Volusia County in the last couple of days. A woman was swiped by a brazen bear while she was out walking her dogs.
“I took off running, and [the bear] took off running behind me,” said the woman, who identified herself as Aydee.
Florida wildlife officials said the common connection in these cases are the dogs.
“The bears’ reaction to people is very different than bears’ reaction to dogs. Even though dogs are smaller than the bear, they automatically feel threatened,” said David Telesco with Florida Fish and Wildlife’s Bear Management Program.
Wildlife officials have set a trap to try and catch the bear in Hickox’s neighborhood. The lure: treats like cinnamon buns.
“Bears’ sense of smell is extremely refined. It’s seven times more than a bloodhound, so they can smell over a mile away,” said Telesco.
Neighbors know they live in an area prone to bears, but they said they are coming too close to humans.
“I don’t know if I would have done the same in his position, but you do what you gotta do,” said area resident Elliot Michel.
“Now, it’s a different story; now, they’re crossing lines. I know the bears were here first but still,” said Hickox.
FWC officials said bear attacks are rare. There have been 15 recorded bear attacks since the 1970s.
As for Hickox’s dogs, they are OK, but he said one of them is now too scared to leave the house.
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