LAKE MARY, Fla. — A Lake Mary man is fed up with bears terrorizing his backyard shed, and told Channel 9 that their visits to his yard now affect how he makes a living.
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Joe Donoughe said that every time the bears come to his property, they take nearly $100 worth of product for his snow cone business with them.
This is happening on Washington Avenue, south of Lake Mary Boulevard.
“I feel like I’m being attacked by a bulldozer or entire football team at once,” Donoughe said. “They’re ramming the doors and pulling the doors.”
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Donoughe said he put up an electric fence over the trailer to zap the group of bears that would not leave him alone.
He had to remove the beehives, pineapples, chickens, and goats on his property. However, it’s his snow cone business they’re after.
Donoughe caught a video of the bears Thursday night. He added a wooden barricade between the door to try and keep the bears out. His camera caught them hitting the door, ripping it open, and then lifting the barrage out of the door.
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They then walked inside and walked out with jugs of syrup. The shed’s floor is gooey with syrup.
The cameras also caught the bears on their way out with jugs of syrup they ripped out of closed boxes; then they knocked the camera out and left.
“You can see the trail they took,” Donoughe said as he showed channel nine the path of the syrup out the door. “they grabbed the gallons and trailed off into the woods.”
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Donoughe said the bears have been visiting every week. They’ve pushed a trailer and car out of the way to get inside.
Channel 9 reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. FWC said this situation doesn’t meet the criteria to have the bears removed. The agency suggests moving the electric fence around the shed and adding a lock.
Florida bears don’t hibernate but need more calories and food in the winter months, which may increase their activity.
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