A 15-year-old Eastpoint girl is recovering from plastic surgery this morning for wounds sustained in a Sunday evening bear attack not far from the heart of Eastpoint.

Sheri Mann, mother of Leah Reeder, said her daughter sustained lacerations to her head and face, with claw marks to her back, and bite marks on her right arm and left leg after the incident next to the Big Top market.

“It bit her face open, and beside her ear on her scalp.” said Mann. “It was very, very bad.”

Stan Kirkland, a spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said FWC officials put in two live “culvert” traps in the vicinity last night, and planned to install two more today, in an effort to catch bears and euthanize them.

“It’s an assumption that it’s an adult animal. That’s all we know at this point,” said Kirkland. “It is likely we will catch more than one bear.

“Public safety is paramount,” he said. “We will likely euthanize any adult bears that we catch. One of the things we want to do is have the public know we have removed the bear.

“We will in all likelihood be removing numerous animals,” he said. “We’re an agency that is all about fish and wildlife, and we want a robust animal population. But when you have animals like that that can hurt someone, we’re going to err on the side (of caution). We want the community to feel safe.”

Mann said Reeder had been out walking her springer spaniel at dusk, about 6 p.m., so it could go to the bathroom outside at a lot between the post office and the Big Top market,

“The dog barked, and she saw a black shadow and the next thing she knew she was in a ditch,” said Mann. “She said she was screaming and nobody could hear her. He bit her leg and started dragging her away.”

Speaking from her hospital bed as she awaited surgery, the Franklin County freshman related what had happened.

"I'm feeling OK, it was pretty scary," said Leah Reeder. “I was listening to music and I heard my dog start barking. It was like a black blur."

She said the bear pushed her down, and she rolled on to her front side and started screaming.

"I guess nobody heard me," she said. "After I realized nobody was coming, I stopped screaming, and it started dragging me to the ditch. It lost its grip on my jacket and fell in the ditch and got up and ran away."

Mann said the dog’s barking may have scared the bear off. “Thank God the dog was there,” she said.

"My dog Ralph was sitting there barking at it," said Leah Reeder.

Reeder was able to walk back to where she was staying with her dad, Kenny Reeder, no more than a block away.

Mann said she rushed over, and Kenny Reeder called 911, and that she arrived at the house right after the ambulance did. “She was conscious and pouring blood. She was very frightened,” said Mann, “She was crying hysterically.”

Mann said she was told poor weather conditions prevented LifeFlight from flying, and Reeder was transported by ambulance to Bay Medical Center.

Officers from the sheriff’s office, and FWC were soon on the scene, searching for the bear. Mann said they took a sample of her daughter’s shirt, so they could get the scent of the bear.

She said FWC officials called her about 8:30 p.m. and told her they had treed a bear believed to have attacked the girl. Kirkland said that in turned out that, a few blocks from where the attack occurred, a homeowner’s dogs had bayed a dog while it was on the ground.

“It was not in a tree,” said Kirkland. “Somebody saw the bear and it was a pretty big bear but the bear broke and ran, and that was the last anyone saw of that bear.”

The FWC spokesman said officials will use DNA evidence obtained from clothes and the bandages applied to Leah Reeder, and that there is “a very high probability” that a match can be made in the event that they trap the bear who attacked the girl.

“They will attempt to match that to any bear that we capture and euthanize,” said Kirkland. Lab samples will be sent to a lab in British Colombia, and will be returned within days, he said.

Mann said she first began calling FWC about the growing number of bears in the neighborhood about nine years ago, but gave up after they repeatedly would hand her a brochure, advising precautions, and told her nothing further could be done.

"We see four, five, six bears a night," said Mann. "They're all over Eastpoint. "They'll come out in broad daylight now.

"My daughter was doing something as simple as walking her dog. Thank Jesus in heaven it didn't take her life," said Mann.

The FWC reminds residents in this area to be aware of their surroundings and always supervise pets and children while outdoors. The FWC relies on residents to report threatening bear behavior. Residents should contact the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (3922) to report any threatening bear activity.