SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – Black bears are no strangers to people living in Central Florida, including Bill Lueckfeld.
“I pan to the right as I come out and then I pan to the left. As I pan to the left I, see a black lump. A big one in the middle of my lawn over here,” Lueckfeld said.
The Marine veteran found this black bear shot in front of his home near Foxden Road in Apopka before taking his dogs on an evening walk.
“The bear was laying right here this way angled this way. His head was right over here,” Lueckfeld said.
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Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission investigators found a gunshot wound to in the bear’s left lung.
In the same neighborhood, Erika Pechacek recently saw a black bear trying to eat from her bird feeder in her backyard.
“It was reaching up to get whatever seeds were in there. I took a picture and I kind of chased it away,” Pechacek said.
She also saw several bears and animals hopping over her fence.
“They climbed over the fence and damaged it in different places. We had to replace the entire fence,” Pechacek said.
Neighbors see several black bears and wildlife cross through their neighborhood from the nearby state park and other areas.
“A lot of people see them all the time. It’s not as though they’re a threat because if they look at you they run the other way,” Lueckfeld said.
Friday night, Gov. DeSantis signed 14 bills, including one which allows people to claim self defense in shooting a bear on their property.
Lueckfeld believes the move is not necessary.
“It’s gonna cause more problems for the state basically, you’re gonna lose more bears that way. You’re gonna have people causing accidents missing the bear and shooting inside somebody’s house,” Lueckfeld said.
There are some rules to this bill such as reporting a bear kill to FWC within 24 hours and banning people from luring the bear with food or materials.
“At least it is a guideline for people on how to act and what to do about the worst case scenario,” Pechacek said.
A North Florida lawmaker who wrote the bill said the legislation is necessary because of a rise in bears venturing into residential areas.
The law goes into effect July 1.
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