Blake and Darbey Sprout live with their two children and two dogs in northeast Orange City, near the numbered streets.
Around 12:15 a.m. on Dec. 20, Blake let out their two dogs, Karen, a Pomski (Pomeranian/Husky mix) and Mitch (a Dachshund mutt) into their unfenced front yard to do their last doggy business of the night.
The Sprouts had seen a large adult female black bear attempt to get in their trash a few days earlier. Still, they couldn’t foresee what would happen next.
That night, Dec. 20, three juvenile black bears were traveling through the area. The trio were on the sidewalk in front of the Sprouts’ home. To Karen and Mitch, these interlopers, hundreds of pounds heavier, were something to confront.
To the interlopers, the sudden presence of small and barking animals running to them must have been similarly perturbing.
Within seconds, Karen, the 12-pound Pomeranian mix, was severely hurt by one of the bears.
Blake, the human, reacted immediately.
“I thought about going inside for some kind of weapon,” he said. “But by then she would be dragged off.”
He ran to the juvenile bear and tried to kick it away from Karen. That juvenile charged and bit at Blake’s belly, while the other two cubs seemingly left, according to footage from a neighbor’s security camera.
The dogs scattered, but the remaining juvenile black bear kept up the chase. Bleeding from his stomach, and in intense pain, Blake went at the bear again, throwing rocks and yelling until it left.
At the end of the encounter, Karen was alive, running home with injuries. The entire incident lasted around one minute.
Blake insisted to his wife that the dog needed to go to the veterinarian first. While she stayed home with their two young children, he drove Karen to the veterinarian. Only once Karen was rushed into emergency care did he drive himself to the hospital, where they cleaned his wounds and gave him doses of antibiotics and the rabies vaccine.
“He deserves so much credit,” Darbey said. “This Christmas could have looked a lot different.”
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In general, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, black bears are typically quiet and shy animals. However, they can hurt humans when defending themselves, cubs, or food sources.
The FWC documents all known incidents of physical contact between humans and bears. The information from 2006 on is available online at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/wildlife/bear/living/encounter/.
According to the most recently updated information, the last bear encounter in Florida was also in Volusia County. In 2023, in Pierson, an adult male black bear is documented physically encountering a human. Coincidentally, on that same day in the Osceola National Forest, there was another encounter between a human and a black bear. In both cases, dogs were involved. A total of 39 encounters have been listed since 2006.
“As the populations of both humans and bears have expanded in the state, there has been an increase in human-bear conflicts, particularly in residential areas, where bears often search for food,” a recent Florida House bill analysis concluded.
Editor’s note: The Beacon was unable to reach the FWC directly before going to press due to holiday deadlines. This story will be updated online.
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