Black bear staking a claim in Grayton neighborhood

A large black bear has made itself at home in the Preserve at Grayton, near Big Redfish Lake.

Leah Brown who lives on Barton’s Way said the bear recently visited her house six times in one 24-hour period.

“It was at my neighbor’s house last night (Sept. 21),” said Brown.

Brown said it is “the biggest bear I’ve ever seen. Probably 400 pounds or more.”

And she should know big. Brown and her family moved here from Alaska.

“I’ve had a bear on my front porch. I’ve had a moose ring my door bell – literally. I know big,” said Brown.

Brown said she called state wildlife officials who did nothing more than caution her to keep her distance.

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She feels the bear should be relocated. “It’s not afraid of us. It showed no fear,” she said.

She said when her family discovered it was not raccoons but a bear digging in the trash, she called the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, who sent someone out but also did not have much to offer.

Mike Gurspan, public information officer with the Walton County Sheriff’s Office, was not aware of any bear related calls at the Sheriff’s Office.

Brown said she is fearful for the many visitors and construction crews in her neighborhood, indicating the bear could pose a considerable hazard at night to drivers.

She said she had also heard shots north of her house, which is near the Point Washington forest area.

Brown said she originally thought raccoons were responsible for her garbage cans being turned over and gone through so she anchored the can with a six-foot aluminum ladder. When that didn’t deter the creature, she and her family waited with a bucket of water on an overhead deck. Their thinking was they would throw the water on the raccoon and scare it enough it wouldn’t come back.

“But I looked down and saw the biggest bear I’ve ever seen,” said Brown.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Wildlife Assistance Biologist Susan Carroll-Douglas said the last call FWC has on record from Brown was Sept. 17. All total, there have been about a dozen calls about black bears in the area.

On Wednesday, Douglas was to meet with residents of WaterColor, its property manager and home owners’ association to discuss a black bear that has been getting into residents garbage cans.

“FWC procedure is to first identify any attractants that could lure the bear to a location, and see that those attractants are removed. Then the bear’s behavior is evaluated. A bear just passing through is of no threat. Each situation is evaluated individually,” said Douglas. “If the bear causes property damage the bear will be trapped and relocated. Any bear that poses a human safety threat will be euthanized.”

Sun reporter Stanley Giguere also contributed to this article.