In the middle of January, one of our smart home writers reported a strange story: a man appeared on Ring security footage licking a family’s doorbell for hours. Although strange, the incident was essentially harmless. The Salinas, California family whose doorbell was victimized laughed about the incident after it happened.
Now a new recording has surfaced of a different man, in a different state, licking yet a different doorbell. A Lake Worth, Florida family posted a video of a rather disheveled, bearded man in front of their home. The man is holding a stack of newspapers and appears to bite or lick them before leaning forward to lick the video doorbell not once, not twice, but seven times. At one point in the video he pauses to point to the newspaper and turns to leave, only to return and lick the doorbell twice more.
Why? Your guess is as good as ours. Whether the influence of drugs, alcohol, or just plain oddity, the fact that two doorbell lickers have been caught on camera in just over a month begs the question of just how many people take part in recreational doorbell tastings.
The man in the Florida video has not yet been identified, but the man from the original video in California was identified and arrested on multiple charges unrelated to the licking. If you own a Ring doorbell, you can share footage and clips to the Ring Neighbors app. This app connects Ring users within a given area so that strange and suspicious activity, whether or not it involves licking, can be tracked throughout the neighborhood.
The Lake Worth family has made no comment on their reaction to the video. The footage shows that it’s night outside, although a specific time is not provided. No word has been given on what kind of charges the man may face, either.
If you have a doorbell, it might not be a bad idea to wipe it down with disinfecting wipes, just to be safe. You could also try a “Do not lick” sign. And although we believe in thorough reporting, no one here at Digital Trends has licked a video doorbell to solve the mystery of their appeal. Maybe they just taste like chocolate.
