A woman who was walking her dog in Seminole County on Wednesday was bitten on the arm by a bear, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Jeanne Barber, 68, was walking her dog near along Sherbourne Circle, in the Heathrow community, at the time of the incident. The dog began chasing the bear, and caused Barber to fall down. The bear bit the woman on the arm and then left the area.
Family members transported the woman to Central Florida Regional Medical Center. The dog wasn't injured.
Fish and wildlife officers set up a bear trap nearby.
Neighbors of the woman tell us they’ve seen a bear and what appears to be her cubs roaming around here lately. Wildlife officials are looking into whether one of those bears could’ve been involved in the attack.
The attack happened almost a year to the day since a woman was attacked by a bear while walking her dog in a nearby Longwood neighborhood.
Wildlife officials say there are more bears on the move this time of year – searching for food. Heathrow residents do a good job of keeping trash out of bears reach. But FWC said construction workers – not so much.
“There is a lot of construction going on, and with the construction comes a lot of debris and byproduct, and a lot of dumpsters," said Greg Workman with FWC. "And with that there’s construction workers. So we want to stress that not only do the residents need to secure their food, but also anyone that is utilizing that area.”
Meanwhile – they say they have a pretty good idea on which bear may be responsible for this attack – and they hope to catch it soon.