LAKE MARY, Fla. -- An aggressive bear is on the loose with two little cubs in an upscale Lake Mary neighborhood. When the bear attacked a dog near Markham Woods Road and Wimbledon Drive, one homeowner contacted Channel 9 to help warn neighbors.

---

MUST SEE: 99-Photo Strange News Slideshow
ANIMAL NEWS: More Stories Of Animals In The News

---

The people who live in the neighborhood have been passing around fliers warning others about what happened to them. They said even a wrought-iron fence wasn't enough to keep the bears out and away from their dog.

Even with a name like Gator, the 2-year-old yellow lab was no match for a bear in Roy and Louise Lathan's back yard.

STRANGE PHOTOS VIEW 99 PICS capturing a variety of strange news.

"I laid him over and I could see his insides were torn up," Roy told Eyewitness News.

Gator needed 30 stitches and the Lathan's are still concerned about the black bear and her cubs. Neighbors said there have been an increased number of sightings around the Shannon Downs subdivision in Lake Mary.

Now, the homeowner's association is reminding people to take extra care with pets and children and to keep garbage out of reach.

"The mother takes care of the cubs. If she feels threatened, she's going to do what she's going to do," Roy Lathan said.

While Eyewitness News didn't come across any bears in the Shannon Downs area, experts said it is prime territory, partly because of so many little acorns. Bears love the acorns and they'll even go into populated areas looking for something like them to eat.

The owners of a cat named Winkie told Eyewitness News it was killed by a bear in September. But, as Markham Woods becomes less wooded, neighbors acknowledge the bears are running out of natural habitat.

"You're concerned for your animals, you're concerned for yourself and it's been nerve-wracking," said homeowner Cal Sanson.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission said it does come in and try to relocate bears in extreme circumstances, but for now there are no plans to do that in Shannon Downs. They insist the black bear is typically not aggressive unless it's provoked.