- The Washington Times - Monday, December 22, 2014

A 15-year-old girl is recovering after being attacked by a bear while she was walking her dog in Florida’s panhandle Sunday night.

Leah Reeder, a high school freshman, sustained injuries to her legs, back, neck and face after a bear attacked her and dragged her into a ditch in Eastpoint, Franklin County, a local ABC affiliate reported.

Leah said she remembered to “play dead” during the attack, and said her dog charged at the bear and forced it back into the woods.

“The worst injuries are to her face,” the girl’s mother, Sherry Mann, told the station. “She has a huge laceration on top of her head and one across her forehead and deep, deep puncture wounds to the side of her head.”

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials are now looking for the bear. This is the second bear attack in the area this year. In the other incident, a woman suffered wounds to her head and required 30 stitches, the ABC affiliate said.

Florida is home to only one kind of bear, the Florida black bear. In 2002, Florida Fish and Wildlife estimated there to be as many as 3,000 bears statewide.

• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.

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