SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A woman said she had a harrowing encounter with a bear in Seminole County Friday.
Kristen Savage said she was almost finished walking her dog down her street when the bear came rushing toward them.
She said the bear all but ignored her and went straight for her 14-year-old chihuahua mix, Ringo.
“I just kept holding him in the air, and she would chase after him,” Savage said. “I fell a few times from spinning around. Every time I put him down, she would paw at him. One point she did have like the back of him in her mouth.”
The bear never bit down.
Savage believes the bear’s two cubs were in the woods behind her home, and the bear reacted when she saw Savage and Ringo walking in their direction.
Savage said she’s lived in the neighborhood for five years and has gotten accustomed to seeing the bear out and about. Usually, it ignores its human neighbors, she said.
“I came face to face with them before we were walking to school, and just looked at me and did its thing and left,” she said. “We’ve never had an issue.”
Savage said she related to the bear since she was protecting her own four-legged baby.
She walked away from the encounter with a few scratches on her leg from tripping. Ringo is shaken up, but otherwise unscathed.
“I make sure someone’s on the phone with me. I also bring an air horn,” Savage explained. “I have a whistle. I have all the things.”
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