An Orange City neighborhood is living on edge ever since a bear attacked a man and his dog, killing the dog.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials visit Alan Bryant almost daily, ever since he and his dog, Tigger, were attacked. Tigger was killed and Friday, FWC officers delivered a wooden box with something special inside.
"They brought me the ashes. They were good enough to do all that. That's all I can expect, you know?" said a somber Bryant.
FWC retrieved DNA samples from Tigger to match with any bear caught in the area. Those samples will be compared with a bear killed by a motorist Friday morning. However, it could take weeks before the results are back.
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Still, FWC remains vigilant in the neighborhood and has set up three bear traps inside the Country Village subdivision in Orange City.
FWC also set up a motion sensor camera behind Bryant's home to see if they can capture any bear movement in the area.
Bryant says the subdivision is a community living on edge, with many of them pet owners.
"Bears are totally fearless and coming up to my backyards with street lights, security lights, noise going on, it’s a serious danger," said Bryant.
There is one more reason Bryant says there's cause for worry.
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Bryant says the bear which attacked was only one of four: two cubs, a mother bear, and a 500 pound papa bear.
"I didn't know there were four bears. It raises it a lot. And why are these bears doing this?" asked James Vincent, a pet owner who lives just a few homes away from Bryant.
Florida's statewide bear hunt is scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 24. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said a hunt is necessary to help manage the growing black bear population.
Bryant says he is in favor of the bear hunt only because he believes population control is needed in order for bears and humans to co-exist.
FWC says they are not certain how much bear hunting will minimize human-bear conflicts. There have been several attacks on people and pets throughout the state.
The group Speak Up Wekiva is appealing a judge's ruling to allow the hunt to proceed. They say the rules of the bear hunt are unconstitutional, and they say the hunt itself is immoral.