Bear spotted in Clay Hill neighborhood

A bear was spotted right outside a Clay Hill neighborhood and a picture of that bear was shared on social media.

Resident Helen Engler said she hasn’t seen it for herself yet, but the thought of the bear being so close is worrisome.

“Having a bear in the neighborhood would be very scary,” Engler said.

This isn’t the first time a bear has been spotted in Clay County.

In July, Action News Jax obtained video of a bear poking around a bird feeder in someone's backyard.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said last year there were 22 calls for bear sightings in Clay County.

This year, so far, there have been 27.

Engler said she’s keeping an eye out because she has small animals.

“We have, like, four dogs and so we got to be careful of letting them out,” Engler said.

The FWC says plants make up 80 percent of a black bear's diet and the bears can smell food up to a mile away.

Cox Media Group