For thousands of Lake County residents, keeping a black bear out of the trash starts with something that looks deceptively ordinary: a garbage cart.

Lake County says approximately 3,000 bear-resistant trash carts are currently in service across unincorporated parts of the county, the result of a program that has provided limited quantities of the specialized containers since 2017.

But demand has not disappeared.

In a written response to News 6, the county said approximately 1,900 residents are currently on the waiting list for a bear-resistant cart.

Now, Lake County is taking bids for a new contract that would allow the county to continue purchasing more.

County procurement records show the current request for quotation, Q2027-00013, seeks prices for fully automatic, 95-gallon bear-resistant trash cans and is scheduled to close Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. The solicitation says the resulting agreement will be a five-year contract. However, the bid documents also state that the request is a price inquiry rather than an order and that the county has no guaranteed quantity of carts it will purchase.

Lake County told News 6 that is because additional carts are purchased “as funding allows.”

This is not a new program

The latest bid does not represent Lake County’s first attempt to keep garbage away from bears.

The county said it has offered limited quantities of bear-resistant carts since 2017, with residents of unincorporated Lake County able to request one by completing a waiver and being added to a county list.

Lake County said distribution is based on two factors: how long a resident has been waiting and whether that resident lives within a bear “hot spot” identified using the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s bear data.

The county did not provide News 6 with an estimated average wait time for someone currently joining the list.

FWC records show the program has substantial history.

The agency’s 2019 Florida Black Bear Management Plan lists Lake County as having received $348,473 in BearWise cost-share funding from 2007 through 2019. In a Central Florida breakdown, the plan associates Lake County with 1,771 bear-resistant trash cans purchased through that funding.

Lake County confirmed to News 6 that the money was used to purchase bear-resistant carts. The county’s current total of approximately 3,000 carts in service reflects additional carts acquired beyond those documented in the 2019 plan.

FWC’s management plan also says the agency helped Lake, Seminole and Orange counties, along with the city of Apopka, develop BearWise ordinances requiring garbage to remain secured from bears until the morning of collection.

Lake County’s code currently gives customers the option of using a county-approved bear-resistant garbage cart when one is available. If a household uses a standard cart containing garbage, the code requires that cart to remain secured against bear intrusion until it can be placed curbside for collection.

Why garbage matters so much

The reason for focusing on garbage becomes clearer in FWC’s own numbers.

Lake County is part of FWC’s Central Bear Management Unit, which also includes Seminole, Orange, Volusia, Marion and several other counties.

FWC recorded 27,117 bear-related calls in the Central Bear Management Unit between 2016 and 2025. Of those calls, 22% involved bears getting into garbage. Another 11% involved property damage.

In 2025 alone, FWC recorded 3,598 bear-related calls in the Central unit, the highest annual total shown in the agency’s current 2016-2025 dataset.

Garbage is particularly important because bears can learn very quickly where an easy meal can be found.

FWC says bears that repeatedly gain access to garbage, pet food, bird seed and other human food sources can become food-conditioned and begin returning to residential areas. The agency says a bear can sometimes consume more calories from a single garbage can than it could find during an entire day of natural foraging.

The timing also matters.

In a BearWise advisory issued in September, FWC said bears can spend up to 20 hours a day searching for food during the fall while trying to build fat reserves. Easy food in neighborhoods can encourage a bear to remain in the area; if those attractants disappear, the agency says bears generally have less reason to linger.

A wildlife biologist’s experience: Bears are still there — the garbage is not

News 6 spoke by phone with Dr. Jay Exum, a wildlife biologist and president of Friends of the Wekiva River, who has firsthand experience with bear-resistant garbage carts.

Exum said his Seminole County homeowners association has used them for more than a decade.

His description of the result was simple:

“We still see bears in the neighborhood, but we don’t have them in trash.”

Exum said his HOA made the program community-wide rather than relying solely on voluntary participation.

The HOA used its own money, an FWC grant and reduced costs through Seminole County to initially supply the containers.

“A can was delivered to the driveway of everyone in our neighborhood,” Exum said.

Some of those original carts have since failed or been replaced, he said, but he still sees residents using different brands and replacement carts.

For Exum, the benefit is not necessarily that bears vanish from a community. It is that they stop receiving a high-calorie reward for spending time around homes.

He said bears in his neighborhood still have natural foods available from oak trees and cabbage palms. The difference is what happens when garbage becomes available.

“They will prefer garbage over acorns and cabbage palm fruit,” Exum said, adding that access to garbage can keep bears in neighborhoods longer and create more opportunities for conflict.

Exum also said every household that secures its garbage contributes to reducing the problem.

“Every person that complies helps alleviate a part of the problem.”

What Seminole County has learned

Seminole County provides an important nearby comparison because its Urban Bear Management Area has been operating for years.

Under Seminole County’s rules, residents in the management area who want to put garbage outside the night before collection must use a bear-resistant cart. Otherwise, garbage and recycling are supposed to remain secured until at least 5 a.m. on collection day.

Seminole County told News 6 that its original bear-resistant carts were distributed using grant funding. Once that funding ended, residents were directed to purchase their own containers, meaning the county no longer maintains an accurate current count of how many are in use.

The county said bear-related calls are currently infrequent and that, anecdotally, officials believe the combination of garbage set-out requirements and public education has had a positive effect on reducing conflicts.

There is also research behind that broader approach.

A peer-reviewed study authored by four FWC researchers examined two Seminole County neighborhoods inside an urban bear ordinance zone. Researchers found that the combination of bear-resistant cans and other preventive measures reduced reported human-bear interactions by 54%, while reported instances of bears eating garbage in the two neighborhoods fell to zero. Public calls to FWC also declined during the five years after the ordinance was established compared with the five years before it.

That study is important to interpret carefully: researchers did not attribute the entire 54% reduction to garbage carts alone. Residents were also taking other preventive steps required or encouraged by the ordinance.

Seminole County also warned that the specialized carts require more money and planning than conventional ones.

In its written response to News 6, the county said bear-resistant carts can cost up to four times as much as a standard garbage cart, with additional considerations for storage, distribution, maintenance, repair and replacement.

That helps explain why Lake County’s current bid does not promise that all 1,900 people on its waiting list will immediately receive one.

Did Lake County copy Seminole County?

Lake County told News 6 it did not begin its program simply because Seminole County had demonstrated success.

Instead, county officials said the original effort grew out of a State of Florida program, with Lake County participating under the state’s guidelines to qualify for grant funding.

FWC’s 2019 records support that broader regional history. The management plan lists BearWise funding for multiple Central Florida counties, including $621,058 for Seminole County, $348,473 for Lake County, $295,111 for Orange County and $239,856 for Volusia County between 2007 and 2019.

What about development and bear habitat?

News 6 also asked Lake County whether continued residential development in and around bear habitat is increasing concern about bears getting closer to homes.

The county responded that “the intersection of human and wildlife activity is always a consideration.”

The county did not say development was the reason for the current cart solicitation.

FWC research does, however, establish the broader connection between development, fragmented habitat and opportunities for bears to encounter people.

The agency says that where natural habitat becomes fragmented, bears can encounter more people, roads and human-sourced food while traveling between the remaining habitat patches. FWC identifies habitat loss, fragmentation and human-bear conflicts among the major challenges facing the species.

Exum said the connection between Central Florida’s developed communities and larger conservation areas is particularly important in Lake and Seminole counties.

He pointed to the ecological connection to Ocala National Forest and the Wekiva-Ocala Greenway, arguing that those corridors help explain why bears remain a visible part of life in parts of the two counties.

And, he said, many residents do not necessarily view that as a negative.

Exum said people in his neighborhood often appreciate seeing bears and other wildlife — provided people take steps to prevent those animals from associating homes with food.

What exactly is a bear-resistant garbage cart?

Not every heavy-looking garbage can qualifies.

FWC maintains a guide to commercially manufactured bear-resistant trash containers. The agency’s September 2022 guide says the listed products passed the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee testing program using captive bears. The list includes residential carts with automatic locking lids that can still work with fully automated garbage trucks, along with other residential cans, enclosures and commercial dumpsters.

Lake County’s current solicitation specifically seeks 95-gallon, fully automatic bear-resistant trash cans.

The practical idea is simple: the lid remains secured when a bear pushes, pulls or tips the container, but the mechanism can work with normal automated garbage collection.

How to check bear activity around your neighborhood

FWC also operates an Interactive Public Bear Map, which allows residents to see documented bear-related activity around Florida.

FWC says the map includes locations of bear-related calls from the public and bears handled by the agency, with records dating back to 1980. The map can include current-year information as recent as roughly two months before the present date, but FWC cautions that current-year data have not yet been fully assessed for accuracy and can change.

Explore FWC’s Interactive Public Bear Map

Want to make your home more BearWise?

FWC’s guidance focuses heavily on removing the food reward that encourages a bear to return.

The agency recommends securing garbage inside a sturdy garage or shed when possible and putting it out the morning of collection instead of the night before. Residents can also use a commercially manufactured bear-resistant container or modify an existing sturdy cart, provided their waste hauler will service it. Other attractants — including pet food, bird feeders, grills, fallen fruit and livestock feed — should also be secured.

FWC says people should never intentionally feed or approach a bear. If a bear enters a yard, the agency recommends making sure you are in a safe location and the bear has an escape route before using loud noises to encourage it to leave.

For viewers who want to go deeper, these are the official resources used in this reporting:

• FWC: Living with Bears — safety, attractants and what to do when a bear enters your yard
• FWC: Bear-resistant trash container guide — models, sizes and container types
• FWC: Ways to Secure Your Trash — bear-resistant cans and other options
• FWC: Bear brochures, flyers and how-to resources
• FWC: Central Bear Management Unit — bear calls, reasons for calls and mortality data
• FWC: Interactive Public Bear Map
• Lake County: Current bear-resistant trash cart solicitation
• Seminole County: Urban Bear Management rules and BearWise information

For Lake County residents seeking information about county garbage service, Lake County Solid Waste lists 352-343-3776 and garbagecollection@lakecountyfl.gov as its residential collection contacts. lakecountyfl.gov