Bear captured after roaming Fort Myers neighborhood near McGregor Blvd.

A small black bear was captured after being on the loose Tuesday morning in a Fort Myers neighborhood near McGregor Boulevard.

 

The bear was seen on multiple home surveillance cameras as it roamed through the neighborhood near McGregor Blvd. and South Street.

It roamed through yards, climbed fences, and even temporarily shut down streets.

FWC worked for hours to capture the bear in order to move it to a more remote location.

FWC Officer Adam Brown said they couldn’t tranquilize the bear. “Oftentimes when we use a tranquilizer gun the bear will not have an immediate effect. Sometimes they will run away … we didn’t want to take any chance of it running into traffic or running into any residential area and causing further problems.”

Instead, they used a sugary substance. “We had set some doughnuts in the trap and we also had a device where he might grab the larger package of doughnuts and trip the trap.”

The 18-month-old bear was ultimately captured and will be relocated to state-managed land in Southwest Florida.

“January through June, they come out of their den, they start to look for food early in the year and about this time is the start of the mating season so you will see an uptick in activity,” Brown said.