Orange, Lake and Seminole

counties will get more money from the FWC to help communities reduce human-bear conflicts.

Bears in Lake, Orange and Seminole counties might soon have to look harder for their late-night snacks.

The Central Florida counties are getting more state money for lock-top, bear-resistant garbage containers that are designed to keep trash in and bears out.

The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Friday it was handing out another $515,283 to help 10 communities reduce ongoing conflicts between people and bears. The money comes partly from the Legislature and partly from the sale of “Conserve Wildlife” specialty license plates, which feature a Florida black bear.

FWC awarded $825,000 in 2016 to help bear-afflicted communities.

“The [lock-top] carts are reducing conflict by making easy food targets more difficult for the bear … and keep them foraging in the woods,” said Mary Hamilton, environmental services manager for Lake County.

Lake, which received $150,000 from the FWC last year, got about $85,000 in the latest funding round.

Hamilton said the lock-top bins will be distributed to households “within the highest bear complaint areas.”

FWC statistics show residents in northeastern Lake County struggle with scrounging bears that have killed poultry and pets.

Lake has supplied about 200 bins and have requests for 400 more.

Seminole County, which also got $150,000 last year, will get $189,000 more to bolster its bear-deterrent efforts.

“The award … will certainly help,” county spokeswoman Ashley Moore said of the FWC grant. The county has received 2,900 applications for bear-resistant trash containers and delivered more than 800.

Orange County officials delivered the lock-top containers last month to residents in its “bear areas,” which are generally north of Apopka and west of the Wekiva River wildlife corridor.

The county has fielded 179 requests for the bear-resistant bins, said Jamie Floer, a spokeswoman for Orange County Utilities.

“When I did the math, that is nearly 20 percent of our inventory of 919 bear carts in less than a month,” she said in an email.

Florida black bears, often described as opportunistic eaters, aren’t picky.

If they can’t find acorns and palmetto berries in their natural habitat, they’ll go for a garbage can full of pizza leftovers or they’ll shake seed from a birdfeeder, according to summaries of recent calls to the state’s nuisance-bear hotline.

Teh FWC’s black bear experts cite unsecured trash as the “No. 1 reason” bears enter neighborhoods and come into conflict with people.