LAKE MARY, Fla., Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A Central Florida woman knocked down by her dog became the third person in the area to be attacked by a bear in the last few months.
Like the earlier victims, Jeanne Barber, 68, survived. The attack occurred in a subdivision in Lake Mary where new houses have been built, replacing woods where bears roamed.
In a similar attack last year, Susan Chalfant was mauled by a bear as she walked her dog. Seven bears were killed after another attack last year.
"I know we've has three in the last 12 months but it's still not common. This is not an incident we see all the time and it is not natural," Greg Workman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission told WFTV.
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Barber was treated at Central Florida Regional Hospital after the attack Wednesday evening.
"The dog took off, knocking her down. She fell to the ground on the road and a bear came and bit her on her arm and then left the area," Workman said.
Traps were set in an effort to find the bear.
Some local residents said they have learned to deal with the bears. Selman Markovic said he always waits until morning to put out the trash so bears won't have a source of food overnight.
Markovic said that on one occasion a mother and cubs came within a few feet of his house, ignoring his barking dogs.
But Mark Schumacher, who is building a house in the same gated community, said he is nervous about letting his young children play outside.
"What's scary is the bears are around at all times, not just dawn and dusk," Schumacher told the Orlando Sentinel.
Fatal attacks by black bears, the most common species in the continental United States, are unusual. Grizzly and polar bears are responsible for most deaths, although even those are unusual.
