- A hungry black bear wandered right into a bakery’s storage, scaring workers and consuming 60 cupcakes.
- Workers tried scaring it away, but it surely returned thrice till a honking automotive horn did the trick.
- Although the bear charged at one employee, fortuitously, nobody was damage.
A hungry black bear barged into the storage of a Connecticut bakery, scared a number of staff, and helped itself to 60 cupcakes earlier than ambling away.
Staff at Style by Spellbound within the city of Avon had been loading desserts right into a van for supply on Wednesday when the bear confirmed up. The state environmental company says that 1,000 and 1,200 black bears reside in Connecticut, with sightings final 12 months in 158 of the state’s 169 cities and cities.
Representatives for Style by Spellbound didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.
Bakery proprietor Miriam Stephens wrote in an Instagram put up that she heard worker Maureen Williams “screaming bloody homicide” and yelling that there was a bear within the storage.
“She bumped into the kitchen as quick as she may and slammed the door that goes into the loading space and held it tight. The bear then MOVED considered one of our fridges in entrance of the door,” Williams wrote within the caption. “All of us had been shocked for a second attempting to determine what to do whereas she held the door shut.”
Williams instructed TV station WTNH that she shouted to scare the bear off, but it surely retreated and got here again thrice.
Williams mentioned the bear charged at her, so she backed out of the storage and ran.
Surveillance video obtained by WTNH exhibits bakery staff strolling across the aspect of the enterprise to attempt to scare the bear however then working away after it scares them.
The video exhibits the bear dragging a container of cupcakes from the storage into the parking zone. Stephens mentioned the bear ate 60 cupcakes.
Williams mentioned a baker lastly obtained the bear to depart by honking a automotive horn.
The four-footed thief was gone when police and officers from the Connecticut Division of Vitality and Environmental Safety arrived.
Nobody was injured within the encounter — one in a collection of troubling interactions between black bears and people in Connecticut.
A 74-year-old lady suffered bites to her legs and arms final month when she was attacked by a bear whereas strolling her canine in a Hartford suburb, the primary such assault this 12 months. There have been two assaults final 12 months, together with one in October the place a 10-year-old boy was mauled in a yard.
“The frequency and severity of bear-human interactions is growing,” DEEP spokesperson Paul Copleman mentioned Friday.
The Connecticut Division of Vitality and Environmental Safety didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s request for remark.
Statistics compiled by the division present a report 67 experiences of bears getting into Connecticut properties in 2022. The earlier report was 45 in 2020.
On Friday, a bear cub wandered right into a neighborhood close to downtown Hartford and climbed a tree. Native residents had been delighted and shocked, saying it was uncommon for bears to enter the town. Police, animal management officers, and state environmental authorities responded, making a scene for a number of hours.
Authorities finally tranquilized the younger bear and deliberate to relocate it. Its vacation spot was not disclosed.