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Three Bears Climb Tree In Neighborhood Near DeLand

Wednesday, April 4, 2007 – updated: 4:14 pm EDT April 4, 2007

A Volusia County man going out to get his trash Wednesday morning got a huge shock. Three bears were going through the trash and now they are in a tree outside his house.


VIDEO: Mom, Two Young Bears Climb Tree

The mother bear, and her two yearling cubs, were going after a free, easy meal in Mike Raibel's trash cans.

"I started looking around. I saw the vines down. I looked up and, 15 feet away from me, they were sitting right there. I went, whoa!" Raibel said.

When Raibel ran for his house, he figures he scared the bears, too. When he came back outside to take another look, they were making their way up into the tree just outside his front yard.

The bears drew a small neighborhood crowd and eventually Fish and Wildlife officers came out for a look, but they decided not to do anything about the bears.

The plan is to let them come down on their own. Officers don't consider them a threat to people, horses or cows in the area.

Neighbors said they really don't mind having them around, though they may have to do something different with their trash cans.

"Got up this morning and saw the trash cans had all been opened and drug over the fence and they dragged the trash all on the other side of the fence," said resident Cheryl Amundse.

Once the sun goes down, Fish and Wildlife figures the bears will come down from the tree that borders their usual home territory.

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