Mama Bear and Cubs Break Into Colorado Home
A Colorado homeowner got the shock of a lifetime when she learned that she had four intruders in her home. Shirley Castillo’s niece shared photos from the incident with Josh Helmuth from local ABC News station KRDO, and he posted pictures to Facebook.
But instead of finding a quartet of masked bandits in the snaps, Helmuth shared that a mama bear and her three cubs were actually responsible for the break-in. The incident happened on Sept. 20 in the town of Starkville, Colorado.
According to Helmuth, the scary situation had a happy ending, since nobody was hurt during the encounter. However, he does note that there’s a chance that the mama bear will have to be euthanized as a result of the break-in.
Additionally, Helmuth took the opportunity to remind locals to be bear aware in the coming weeks, since Colorado bears are in the process of getting ready for winter, which means they are on the hunt for more calories than normal.
The Bears Got In Through a Window
Castillo spoke with FOX21 about the incident, saying that she believed the bears came in through a window. “I left one kitchen window open, which I didn’t think anybody could get in, you know, but I guess the bears are more fur than anything because they squeezed in a little kitchen window,” she explained.
Fortunately, Castillo wasn’t home at the time of the initial break-in, and she instead witnessed it on her home’s security feed, which is also where the photos came from.
Castillo Arrived Home Before All the Bears Were Gone
No humans were hurt during the incident, but Castillo can’t say the same for her home since they destroyed $200 worth of groceries and broke $100 worth of dishes. “Oh, they made a mess out of my kitchen,” she told FOX21. However, the biggest shock came when she finally made it home to check on the place and make sure her dog was okay. That’s when she said she learned that she wasn’t alone. Fortunately, Castillo’s son also arrived shortly after the break-in, and he helped his mother chase the bear out of the house.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God, my dog’s outside.’ And I said, ‘I can’t find my dog.’ So I went in there, well, mama bear was in there sitting on the floor eating the dog food. So she looked at me, and I looked at her, and I don’t know who got more scared,” Castillo recalled to the outlet, telling them that her son fired a gun to scare the bear away after his mom opened a door for the bear to escape. “It’s unreal, and it’s just something I couldn’t believe would ever happen.”
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Is Warning Residents About Bear Activity
Bears in the state are heading into their hyperphagia phase, which means they spend about 20 hours a day looking for food in an attempt to consume 20,000 calories a day before they hibernate, according to a Facebook post from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW). “As bears search for food, it’s critical for people to do their part in keeping wild bears wild,” the post continued, noting that it’s important for people to make sure that they are securing food and trash in and around their homes to keep hungry bears from entering.
According to Helmuth, the mama bear in the photos from the break-in appears to have a yellow tag on her ear. “That’s sad,” Helmuth wrote in his Facebook post. “That tag means that this bear has been caught by Colorado Parks and Wildlife already and been relocated because of nuisance behavior—like human contact, breaking into a home or car, etc.”
The reporter went on to explain that the bear could be euthanized if she’s caught again, which would see her cubs sent to a CPW rehab center, highlighting how important it is for Coloradans to follow the CPW guidelines to help keep humans and bears safe during this important time in their life cycle.
