CARRABELLE — A bear got a big surprise from a big dog last week while raiding a trash can in Carrabelle.
The bear was on the back deck of a home snacking on a resident’s garbage when a 150-pound great Dane bolted out the back door and onto the bear’s back.
William is a big dog. At 10 months old, the great Dane weighs 150 pounds and stands about 3 feet tall at the shoulder. He was born in Apalachicola. His owner, Selina Booth, a professional pet groomer, brought him home when he was just 7 weeks old and weighed only 19 pounds.
Booth said she bought him partly for protection. She has seen bears in her wooded fenced-in yard off a dead-end street in east Carrabelle, and although she is not afraid of them, she is concerned for the safety of her small dog Tommy and dogs she sometimes boards for friends.
In late November, Booth was caring for several small dogs, in addition to William and Tommy, over the Thanksgiving holiday. Earlier in the week she had seen what she described as “a beautiful bear” in her yard during the day raiding her trash can.
The animal had come over her fence to get to the food supply. Booth moved the can closer to her house to discourage the bear.
On Nov. 26 at about 2 a.m., William began barking and there were noises outside in the yard. Booth went to the door to see what was going on and found a small bear on the steps to her deck, once again raiding the trash.
The dog pushed past his owner and out the door. “William leapt off the porch and onto the bear’s back and rode him out of the yard,” Booth said. “It was just amazing.”
Booth said neither the bear nor William was injured during the early morning incident. William came home shortly after escorting Smokey back to his den.
Booth now uses bungee cords to better secure her trash can, but so far, the bear has not been back. She suspects it will not return.
She said William now barks a warning every time he leaves the house. “He goes out first to keep us safe from bears,” Booth said.