They hooped and hollered and banged on the walls, grown men in head to toe firefighting gear — including helmets — dispatched in the middle of the night to a second floor apartment in a small Colorado town to ward of a pesky, unwanted intruder.
“Yahhh!” one man yelled.
“Go on!” another shouted.
“Let him come out and then yell at him,” another chimed in.
“Go on buddy,” someone coaxed. “Come on.”
Then the men, clustered together in a tight hallway, watched their target emerge.
The suspect, described as a fluffy baby bear, about 2-feet in height, scurried from the apartment and out of sight.
“No injuries (to human or bear) were reported,” wrote the Eagle River Fire Protection District in a Facebook post accompanying video footage of the standoff.
The fire department was dispatched to the scene, along with deputies from the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, at 4:45 Saturday morning. The apartment, in the city of Avon, about 100 miles west of Denver, was located on the second floor, authorities said. The human occupying the space woke to the sounds of the suspect rummaging through his refrigerator.
An official motive was not released, but authorities hinted the bear may have been in hot pursuit of a late night snack.
The man barricaded himself in his bedroom until the scene was secured, authorities said.
Charges of breaking and entering have not yet been filed against the bear.
Bruin burglars run rampant in the western United States.
In August 2015, an Idaho man returned from vacation to find his home had been ransacked. The intruder had eaten his way through the residence, consuming some flour, brownie mix, and a Toblerone. He washed it down with a can of Pepsi. The next night, the bear returned for round two but didn’t get too far.
A month later, a mama bear and cub duo busted into a home in Wyoming. They entered through a screen door.
A Colorado woman came home one afternoon and found a bear cub perched on her kitchen counter. The cub, his sibling and his mother had squeezed in through an open window. They feasted on dog food, brownies and — of course — honey.
Wildlife officials say it’s the job of humans to prevent bear burglaries. The animal seeks out food sources as it prepares for a hibernating winter, and will choose the easiest option, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Bears can climb, and will scale trees growing near homes to gain access to food. Officials advise those who live in bear-populated areas to keep garbage inside and refrain from installing bird feeders until months when bears are hibernating.
