Black Bear Wanders Into Front Yard, Delays Florida Man on Way to Work

Bear cruising through Gulf Breeze neighborhood

A Florida man’s regular morning took a turn when a black bear wandered through his front yard, stopping him in his tracks on his way to work.

Michael Tullos, who lives in Gulf Breeze, stepped outside, ready to head for his van. But as he rounded the corner, he spotted the bear — big, shaggy, just ambling along. He didn’t waste a second. Tullos darted right back inside, still shaken, and grabbed his phone to share the whole thing on TikTok. “Moved about as fast as I could, seeing I was still in shock,” he admitted in the video.

Bear sightings like this keep popping up in Florida, especially after several headline-making incidents lately. In May 2025, the state saw its first deadly bear attack. Officials say an 89-year-old man and his dog lost their lives to a bear in rural Collier County.

That December, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission brought back the state’s regulated black bear hunt for the first time in ten years. They issued 172 permits and hunters harvested 52 bears across four different zones. Florida’s black bear population stands at about 4,000.

Florida has a long, complicated history with bear hunting. The state managed regulated hunts from the 1930s until 1994, then paused them. A brief reopening in 2015 ended early when hunters met their quota much faster than expected, sparking backlash and lawsuits.

FWC Chief Conservation Officer George Warthen weighed in, calling hunting a crucial part of wildlife management. “It’s about helping bears succeed over the long term in our state and is a way for us to guide an iconic Florida species into the future, for their benefit and ours,” he said.