Florida Bear Freed From Plastic Container That Was Stuck On Head For 1 Month

It was hard to bear, but a bear in Florida finally had a plastic container removed from its head after nearly a month.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials announced on Monday that the bear was first sighted with the plastic container on its head in Collier County a while back, but disappeared from human sight for more than three weeks.

But things recently came to a head after the bear was filmed by a resident’s security camera, according to the department’s Facebook page.

A bear biologist managed to spot the 250-pound female bear around midnight and tranquilized it with a dart before removing the plastic container from around the animal’s face.

“We think it was part of an automatic pet feeder due to the hole near the bear’s muzzle,” the Facebook post read. “Luckily that hole provided enough access to drink and eat. Even after 28 days of wearing it, the bear was still in great physical shape!”

Although the bear did have a wound encircling her neck and face where the feeder was stuck, staff cleaned the injury and treated her with antibiotics.

She was monitored for 36 hours before being released in a secure area of Picayune Strand State Forest.