FORT MYERS, Fla. — A bear was spotted roaming through the McGregor Reserve neighborhood Friday morning! So, Fox 4’s Austin Schargorodski went to talk with the neighbors who saw it up close.
“I saw the bear standing here and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” said Aime Yavor.
Watch what neighbors say the bear did:
Yavor says she was walking into her kitchen for coffee when she spotted something standing on two legs just feet from her lanai door.
“It was shocking. I thought somebody was screwing around with me… because it was standing up and looked like maybe somebody in a bear suit,” she said.
But it was no bear suit. Yavor says the bear then dropped to all fours, climbed over the fence, and headed toward the nearby apartments. But before it made it to her yard, Mike Shevlin said he caught a glimpse of it.
“I’m looking across the pond over there and it’s like, what’s that? And I go, you know, it’s - that’s a bear!” Shevlin said.
Shevlin says he watched it walk along the water’s edge, sniffing around before disappearing between two houses - eventually ending up where Yavor lives.
In a picture from the neighborhood’s gatehouse camera, you could see the bear on the side of the road near the Matera Townhomes complex.
A third neighbor sent us a picture of the bear standing in the Memorial Gardens Cemetery, where they believe it was last spotted before vanishing.
Despite the scare, Yavor says she’s firmly on Team Bear.
“I mean, we’re encroaching on their territory. They’re probably hungry, they’re thirsty, there’s the drought. Nobody wins in this situation,” she said.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed it received multiple reports of a juvenile bear moving through Fort Myers Friday morning.
The agency says bear encounters have been rising over the past 15 years. They say they’re now averaging around 6,000 calls a year - most of them sightings, not attacks.
They add this behavior is typical for spring, as young bears leave their mothers to find new territory. FWC encourages people to secure food sources, keep pets close, and make noise before letting animals outside to avoid conflicts with wildlife.
“I’m not afraid of it. I’m not worried about it. I just make some noise and try to be alert,” said Shevlin.
“They don’t mean us harm. They’re just doing what they do,” Yavor added.
