Longwood man's surveillance video captures bear frequenting his home

LONGWOOD, Fla. — Black bear sightings are once again causing concern for Longwood residents.

A homeowner recently caught a bear on camera making itself welcome right at his front door.

Bill Gwire said the bear has come back several times and each time it has an extreme curiosity about his doormat, and spending the entire time playing with it.

The Markham Meadows resident happened to have his surveillance camera rolling when the bear came right up to his front door three times this week.

“Last night there was garbage everywhere,” said resident Deb Faria after WFTV showed her the video.

In the video, the bear wipes its paws on the mat and even lifts it up with its paw.

As funny as it may look, it can also mean serious consequences for residents.

“When I go to take (my dog) out around midnight every night, I don’t know what’s lurking so I’m really careful,” Faria said. “That’s a weird thing to think about.”

Not far from where the bear was roaming this week lives a woman who was mauled by a bear earlier this year, and a man who was arrested after he was captured on camera hand-feeding a bear.

“They’re getting very comfortable with people,” Faria said. “When you feed them, it’s against their nature.”

Resident Sam Sing is wondering if it’s the same bear that tore through a refrigerator in his garage.

“We woke up in the morning, everything that was inside the refrigerator was outside,” Singh said.

The homeowner association president said there were fewer bear sightings after the woman was attacked, but the animals have started to appear more often.

WFTV