LONGWOOD, Fla. – When a Longwood man arrived home to find a black bear lying on his doorstep, he thought the animal was sleeping or injured -- and then it woke up, the homeowner recalled Friday.
"(I) went around to the garage and my wife -- we met at the garage door, and she said, 'Come here a minute,'" Warren Woodard said. "(She said), 'There's a bear laying at the door asleep."
At first, Woodard didn't believe what his wife was saying, until he saw the bear with his own eyes through his front door.
"Sure enough, he was laying there," Woodard said. "(It) looked like he was asleep."
Woodard said it had been storming all afternoon and he thinks the massive bear was trying to escape the rain.
"I think the bear had got caught up in it, and here's a nice dry place," Woodard said. "I guess if the door wasn't there, he probably would have gone in the house."
Woodard was able to snap a couple more picture of the bear, even one of the animal rolling over, before calling 911.
"A community police officer came first and that car wouldn't come in the driveway," Woodard said.
That's when another police officer pulled up.
"She must have made some kind of noise, because at that point, the bear jumped up and took off," Woodard said. "(The first officer) yelled at me, 'Look out!' He ran right toward me. So I ran back around and into the garage."
Woodard said he's glad he didn't come face to face with the bear.
"If I had walked around that corner, and the car was parked here and (I) seen that bear laying there, it might have had me at the hospital," Woodard said. "It's a scary thought."