See the Pesky 3-Legged Bear That Keeps Breaking Into Florida Homes

We’re sure you’ve heard of animals getting hungry and emerging from the woods in order to find what they can among the neighborhoods all around them. And mostly, we see bears, raccoons, or coyotes that rummage through our trash and find what scrapes they can in order to survive to the next day. Well, for one black bear in Lake Mary, Florida, the trashcan wasn’t quite good enough.

Black Bear Drinking

Like most of the year in Florida, it was especially scorching hot this summer. And over Labor Day weekend, a three-legged black bear hobbles to a suburban neighborhood and wanders onto their property, as seen in the video posted at the bottom of this post. Homeowner Josaury Faneite-Diglio received an alert on her phone from her security system that something or someone had just walked onto her property and close to her home. 

And while we might assume she would be scared seeing the bear. She actually wasn’t because this three-legged bear is known in her neighborhood and has received the nickname “Tripod” in the area. “He does not harm,” Faneite-Diglio said. “We are surrounded by wildlife, deers, snakes, coyotes, and bears. This is their habitat. We respect them and give them the space.”

However, this homeowner’s 13-year-old son happened to be home at the time of the incident. He heard his dog, Bruno, barking and making all this noise, and so he came over to the window to see what was going on. “Oh my god,” he said. “This is like, one in a lifetime.

So he smartly pulls out his cell phone to capture the rest of this interaction shown below. To this boy’s surprise, Tripod meandered right onto their back porch. And he did not hesitate in the least. He knew exactly what he wanted. He walked right over to the refrigerator and opened it up. And had honey? Not quite; he opened up three White Claw alcoholic beverages and drank them! Yes, alcohol…and yes, three. 

How Many Black Bears Are in Florida?

Needless to say, black bears do live in Florida. But before we can dive into just how many black bears there are in Florida, we need to have some appreciation for who they are as a whole. 

Black bears (Ursus americanus) of the genus Ursus are large mammals. They can weigh anywhere from 220- 600 pounds (100-270 kilograms). And they can reach up to 4.25-6.5 feet (1.3-2 meters) in height. Although their name is a black bear, they can actually be tan or dark brown in addition to black. 

They are omnivores, which means they will eat both meat and plant matter. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC), “A Florida black bear’s diet varies but usually consists of 73% plants, 22% insects, and 5% animal matter. The vegetative part of their diet is made up of grasses and leaves, as well as mast.” And as we know, apparently, we can add White Claws to this list as well. 

It is estimated that there are about 800,000 black bears left in their population. And they inhabit forests and woodlands in North America. The FWC reports that out of the 800,000 in population, there are some 4,050 black bears left in Florida.