Mother bear and three cubs in tree surprise Florida neighbourhood

A mother bear and three cubs took up residence in a Florida neighbourhood. Neighbours spotted the black bears up in a pine tree near the community pool in the Parkers Landing subdivision off Whispering Pines Boulevard in Navarre. “This is the most excitement in quite a few years here,” said resident Sandy Hill. “I’ve heard of them here, but I have never witnessed any until today.”

Hill and her husband, Lenny, decided to walk down the street and see the bears after a neighbour said it was a mother and three cubs. The couple said they are used to seeing bears at their home in New Hampshire but were intrigued when they heard how many cubs there were. “Three cubs is not normal,” Lenny Hill said.



Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist Alan Knothe agreed with Hill’s conclusion but said three cubs definitely is not unheard of in the area. “Three is a little bit less common, one and two are more common, but three is fairly common,” Knothe said. Word about the bears spread through the neighborhood quickly, and by 10 a.m. a number of residents made their way to the pine tree to see the creatures.

The bears were sitting on branches in the tree, with the cubs stacked up on the higher branches and the mother below. “It is so cool, especially four (bears),” said resident Mike Williams who came out to snap photos of the bears to send to his grandchildren. “That’s smart how the mama is the first line of defence at the bottom.”