Bear Caught Snooping Through Colorado Home Gets Stuck on Window During Escape Attempt — Watch!
A curious bear found itself on the edge of a two-story fall when the animal tried to escape from a Steamboat Springs home it broke into via a second-floor window
Heidi Hannah/AMAZING ANIMALS+/TMX
A Colorado bear found itself dangling from the window of a home it broke into on Wednesday, and it was all captured on video.
The bear let itself into a Steamboat Springs home through a ground-floor window and explored the abode, eventually making it to the second story.
In a clip of the wild encounter filmed by Heidi Hannah, the bear tries to escape the home through an upstairs window. Unsure about the drop once outside, the animal hangs onto the windowsill. The bear seemingly contemplates leaping to land several times before deciding against the jump. The video ends with the wild animal pulling itself back inside the house. The bear eventually leaves through the ground floor window it used to enter the home earlier.
Homeowner Ryan MacFarlane told Fox31 he was at work when he learned a bear broke into his home. "He got his nails in there and just ripped that window right open and got inside and helped himself to my pork chops I had out for dinner that night, got some snacks out of the pantry, and knocked over the plants — nothing too crazy," MacFarlane explained.
Heidi Hannah/AMAZING ANIMALS+/TMX
The bear tried to escape through the upstairs window because it locked itself inside the primary bedroom, MacFarlane said. A police officer went into the house and opened the door so the animal could leave, MacFarlane told Fox31.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager Kris Middledorf, the bear has been involved in at least three attempted home break-ins. "If the bear is captured, it will be euthanized," Middledorf told Steamboat Radio, adding that there have been "at least three attempts to capture it,"
"When a bear poses a risk to human health and safety or is known to have caused previous conflict activity, it is often euthanized in accordance with CPW directives," reads a statement on Colorado Parks and Wildlife's website. "Euthanasia is often used to remove bears that have caused bodily harm to people, livestock, broken into homes or structures, exhibited repeated aggressive behavior, or exhibited aggressive behavior one time and it is deemed necessary to euthanize by a wildlife officer."
Related: Three Orphaned Bear Cubs Move to California Wildlife Center for a Second Chance
CPW advises residents to make their homes "bearproof" and never to approach a bear. If one comes close to your home, the agency recommends making loud noises, like blowing a whistle or clapping your hands, to scare the animal away. Residents should keep bear-accessible windows and doors closed and locked and never feed bears on purpose, CPW says. Since food is a common thread among human-bear interactions, trash or recyclables should not be left out overnight in areas with bears, the agency notes.
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Bears have been seen breaking into homes in other parts of the country. In May 2020, four bears broke into a cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, after one unlocked a door. Michelle Eberhart, who was staying at the rental home with a friend, told WATE the bears stole "5 pounds of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a pound of M&M's and two pounds of Sour Patch Kids and two bags of potato chips." The bears also took the group's drinks and Eberhart's allergy medicine.
"It was just almost surreal, it was just a fight-or-flight, like I just have to remove us from this situation and make sure that we're at least in a safe place," Eberhart told WATE.
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