Black bear has visited Florida man's home twice in the past week

A Lake Mary homeowner said a black bear has paid surprise visits to his house twice in the past week. Tramaine Gaines said that seeing the size of the animal has him nervous. He said he plans to get help from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, before the bear decides to move in.


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Gaines took video of the bear breaking in through his screened-in patio. Gaines said he was in his kitchen, only a few feet away, when he noticed something moving on his porch. "I look to my right and to my disbelief, I see two eyes looking at me in the darkness and the bear was actually on his way back in," said Gaines.

Gaines said that last Thursday he left some used cooking oil on the patio and the bear smelled it and smashed through the screen, to investigate. But he said he didn't make that mistake again on Saturday. "This time there was no food, no food outside, I pulled everything in," said Gaines. "I thought it might be a different bear, and I was like, 'No way another bear would know exactly where to come back to and that the screen was already broken.'"


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Gaines say that he believes the bear lives at a nearby nature preserve and that each night it comes out of the woods looking for food. He believes that the bear realizes his porch is a place where food might be found, and that the bear could return. "The first time was really funny. This time I'm a little more concerned," said Gaines. "I still don't want anything done to the bear. I just have to hurry up and get this porch screen fixed, and put up a barrier so he can't continue to come back and check it out."