A black bear in search of food reportedly dragged a Florida woman from her garage over the weekend and tried to pull her to the woods, leaving her with scrapes and cuts to her face and legs — one that required 40 stitches.
The attack happened Saturday evening in Lake Mary, Fla., when Terri Frana, 45, went out to her garage to
get bicycles for her kids, ABC News reported. She was met by five bears picking through her trashcans.
"[One of] the bear[s] got up on [its] hind legs and started to maul her, opened its jaws and put her head in the mouth and dragged her towards the woods," her husband Frank Frana told ABC News. "Somehow she was able to pull herself out."
Urgent: Do You Approve Or Disapprove of President Obama's Job Performance? Vote Now in Urgent Poll
Terri Frana managed to get away and run back to the house, where her son found her collapsed on the living room floor and called 911. She was treated for at least three bear bites and several cuts and scrapes and released Sunday morning, according to ABC News.
Many media outlets initially reported that Frana was attacked by all five bears, but officials couldn’t corroborate those reports.
"There were several bears observed near the area, but one bear is responsible for her injuries," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
spokesman Greg Workman told CNN in a statement.
Authorities reportedly euthanized an aggressive bear that displayed
"dangerous behavior" Sunday night, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Three other bears spotted in the area were also put down, though it's not clear if any of the animals were involved in the Frana attack.
Bear sightings in Florida have more than doubled in the last five years to about 6,200 a year, ABC News noted. Experts encourage people to be assertive if confronted by a bear.
"One of biggest myths is play dead, don't do that; they eat dead animals," police officer David Shultz told ABC News. "If you see them, make a lot of noise from a safe distance. Never try to outrun, they will outrun, outclimb. Come in contact with one, you want to back up slowly and if he keeps coming at you just act as big as you can."
Urgent: Assess Your Heart Attack Risk in Minutes. Click Here.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.