Resident in Estes Park, CO talks about a bear encounter in her home

Last weekend, a mama bear and her two cubs broke into a local residents home. The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous was willing to tell her story about the break-in, in hopes to help others from experiencing this event which luckily had a great outcome.

Courtesy: The Town of Estes Park, CO

July 17, 2013

This is the story as told by the resident:

“While returning to my home from a hike, my neighbor warned me that a sow and two cubs were just seen going up the driveway. My two Schnauzers and I entered the house through the garage when I spied a huge brown bear in the center of the living room. She had two small cubs which were adorable, with her.

Immediately, one of my Schnauzers attacked the mama bear. The mama grabbed my dog by the throat. I reacted by screaming and waving my arms. She exited through the small casement window which she had broken when entering. The cubs ran the opposite direction into the powder room. I quickly shut the door to the powder room, grabbed a phone, closed the dogs in my bedroom, held the entrance window shut (since it was broken), and phoned 911.

What seemed like hours later, but was actually just minutes, personnel from the Park Service, Larimer County, and Estes Park Police Dept. came to the the rescue. The mama bear kept circling the house, looking and calling for her cubs. She was very distressed. When the police/sheriff/Park personnel peeked into the bathroom, both cubs were sitting in the sink! The officers rigged up a route for the cubs to exit the house. When the bathroom door was opened, one cub ran outside and climbed a tree while the other ran into an office area and cuddled up in the dog bed under the computer. One of the officers, a very brave soul, picked up that cub and carried him to the door and he ran away. I understand that mama and babies were soon all reunited.

I am extremely grateful to all the wonderful personnel who helped remove the cubs from my home. They did exactly the correct thing, as the bears, my dog, and I are now doing fine; and I learned some valuable lessons as well. I chose to live in this wonderful place in part because of the wildlife. Even though I never expected to have some join me for dinner, I would not move for the world; and I’m so appreciative of those who helped to conclude this event with a happy ending. Thank you, everyone!

These were VERY polite bears. They ate the candy, wrappers and all, that was on the coffee table; however, they did not break the ceramic bowl! They drank the hummingbird food that was on the stove and moved the pot from one burner to another as if to tell me to please refill it for them (not!).

This homeowner is now proactive about keeping bears out of her home and in addition to following these tips below, she has installed an unwelcome mat around her home. Unwelcome mats are basically boards full of upward-pointing nails placed in front of doors and windows to discourage bears from entering buildings. They are simple and inexpensive to make.