Two teens trapped in a California house by a bear that came in looking for a midnight snack were ultimately rescued by police, who say the bruins are smarter than people think.
Bobby Harden and James Sherman heard noises coming from the kitchen of the home their family was renting in Truckee late at night.
“I said my mom would not be aggressively opening Tupperware at twelve thirty in the morning,” Sherman said.
The teens found a bear helping itself to taco meat, and said they were frozen in fear.
“It looks us both in the eyes and it started coming towards us and that was one of the scariest moments coming face to face with the bear,” Sherman said.
He called 911 through his smart watch while Harden barricaded the door between the kitchen and TV room — which the bear attempted to break through.
“The bear was shaking the door and we had to hold it shut,” Harden said.
But help arrived in the form of Deputy Allyson Prero of the Placer County Sheriff’s Office, who got the bear to leave the property, after shooting it to get it off the driveway.
“So I racked my shotgun, which I’d already loaded with a bear round, and I just hit him with a bear round on the backside and he shoo’d, took off out of the neighborhood.”
The California Bear League says encounters in homes are more common now than in the past because bears have adjusted to humans, and Prero agreed.
“I think people underestimate how smart bears are.//Bears absolutely can open doors doors to residences, car doors,” Prero said.
“We both left the garage door open so that’s a lesson,” Sherman said.
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