Thirteen-year-old Joseph Diglio’s relaxing afternoon watching television was interrupted by a three-legged bear breaking through his family’s screened-in patio and scoring a couple of White Claws from the fridge in Lake Mary, Florida, Sunday.
The beer raid by the bear, known in the Lake Mary community as “Tripod,” was caught on camera by the teen, WESH reported. His dog Bruno’s barking first alerted him of the visitor.
“There’s a literal bear on our patio…Oh my God, I’ve never been this close to a bear,” Diglio said.
Footage shows the bear slowly walking around the lanai near the living room windows and eventually making his way to the mini-fridge.
After Tripod opened the fridge, Diglio grew fearful that the bear might be able to open the patio doors leading into his house.
“I feel like I have to lock all the doors now,” Diglio said.
In addition, the bear treated himself to some fish food left out beside a fish tank.
Diglio’s mother, Josaury Faniette-Diglio, received a Ring notification of Tripod’s visit.
“I was not scared because we know the bear really well,” Faniette-Diglio said. “He lives here; we respect their habitat as much as we can.”
As for the bear’s choices in White Claw?
“His favorite flavor is mango and strawberry,” Faniette-Diglio said.
This encounter is the second time a bear has broken through the Diglio’s screened-in porch.
The Lake Mary community is 20 miles north of Orlando, where bears have been a common sighting recently as cubs left their mothers, WUSF Public Media reported.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Mike Orlando warned the public to be careful of leaving food out, as it can lure bears into backyard spaces.
“Florida’s a wild place, as we all know,” Orlando said. “And basically, it’s just up to us to sort of make sure that we’re living responsibly in a way that isn’t going to cause human-wildlife conflicts.”
