A Colorado family got a startling surprise one morning in July when they discovered a bear had wandered into their home and helped itself to breakfast in the kitchen.
Security camera video from inside the Colorado Springs house shows the bear making its way into the kitchen on July 21, where it began searching for food and grabbing a snack.
“I was getting ready in the morning and heard a bang. I asked my kids — 8, 6 and 3 years old — if they were all okay, and they were all upstairs playing,” Nerissa England told Storyful.
The bear entered the Colorado family’s home, ate food from the kitchen table and later carried a trash can outside. (Storyful)
“I assumed it was a picture that had fallen off the wall, so my curious 8-year-old daughter, Zara Lee, went downstairs to investigate, and my husband followed to grab coffee,” England said. “She rounded the corner into our kitchen, and a bear was eating our trash right outside the kitchen door.”
The bear apparently walked into the home through a back door that was left open so that a breeze could come in amid the hot temperatures.
A black bear in a grassy area. (Getty Images Creatives)
The animal then ate some Flintstones vitamins left on a table, dragged a trash can outside and began rummaging through it near the kitchen door, England said.
Zara Lee and her father reportedly managed to scare the bear away by opening the door and making noise.
“We will be keeping the door shut for a while until the local bears get the food they need and go into hibernation!” England told Storyful.
Black bear on road at Mount Rainier, Wash. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Bears have wandered into people’s homes across the United States in record numbers after a dry winter wiped out plants, grasses, berries and nuts that form around 90% of their diet, Reuters reported.
Their sense of smell has lured them to places with human food. This has led to record bear deaths in some states, as hundreds have been euthanized, run over, shot and even electrocuted as they interact with humans.