Mother bear, 3 cubs feast on garbage, damage fence in Oviedo subdivision

OVIEDO, Fla. — An Oviedo woman said she would like the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to relocate a mother bear and her three cubs after a surveillance camera recorded the bears digging through garbage outside her home earlier this month.

Tiffany Chapin said the bears were outside her home at about 4 a.m.

"The baby bears just went through the trash and were just having a feast," she said.

Chapin said the bears also damaged her fence.

"They've literally ripped it just completely off the hinges," she said.

Chapin said she reported the damage to FWC.

The agency told Channel 9 that there was another bear sighting reported weeks earlier at nearby Long Cove Court.

A bear was spotted Friday evening on Red Ember Road, which is several miles away.

Nick Zirillo and his wife, Lizzie Zirillo, recorded video of the bear with a cellphone.

"We get a flashlight out, and we're shining it up there and we see two little cubs," he said. "I thought it was cool. I was mad that they tore up our garbage."

Zirillo said spotting wildlife isn't unusual because he lives in a rural area.

"We live in the country," he said. "It is what it is."

Chapin said she doesn't want the bears wandering her subdivision, because she fears what could happen if the mother bear were to encounter a human around her cubs.

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"For the safety of them and us as well -- if they can relocate them, I think that would be great," she said.

FWC hasn't said if the bears will be relocated.

Cox Media Group