A black bear and three cubs broke right into a Lake Metropolis dwelling and attacked a 74-year-old man on Thursday, in line with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
The mama bear and her cubs pawed open {a partially} cracked sliding glass door and entered the house round 8:30 p.m. Thursday, inflicting a loud crash that startled the individuals inside, CPW officers mentioned in a information launch.
The person grabbed a chair from his kitchen and tried to direct the grownup bear again out the door, however the bear charged him and knocked him right into a wall, CPW officers mentioned.
“It’s definitely fortunate we didn’t have a fatality, as a result of it was shut,” CPW wildlife officer Lucas Martin mentioned within the launch.
CPW officers mentioned the bear repeatedly swiped on the man, injuring his head, neck, arms, decrease stomach, shoulder and calf. Paramedics handled the claw wounds on-scene and the person was not taken to the hospital.
Different residents of the home continued attempting to scare the bear and her cubs away, however all 4 bears have been nonetheless inside the house when officers arrived. CPW officers didn’t specify what number of different individuals have been in the home however mentioned the group had escaped the bears by locking themselves in a bed room.
A Hinsdale County sheriff’s deputy was ultimately capable of haze the cubs out of the house, however the sow and all three cubs climbed bushes exterior the home as an alternative of leaving, CPW officers mentioned.
All 4 bears concerned within the assault have been euthanized and despatched to CPW’s well being lab in Fort Collins to be examined for illness and to bear a full necropsy, in line with the discharge.
“There was no query that these have been the bears concerned,” CPW Space Wildlife Supervisor Brandon Diamond mentioned. “It’s a horrible set of circumstances that, sadly, our district wildlife managers are routinely confronted with.”
Diamond mentioned the bears have been extremely habituated and had turn out to be too snug with people since they prepared to enter an occupied home with the residents sitting simply toes away.
“When a bear reaches this stage of human habituation, clearly a number of interplay with individuals has already occurred, and except communities are working with us collaboratively and speaking points, now we have no alternative to intervene,” Diamond mentioned.
Thursday evening’s assault marks the primary reported bear assault in Colorado and the ninth report of bear exercise in Hinsdale County to this point this 12 months, in line with CPW.
Since 1960, solely 96 bear assaults on people have been reported in Colorado, in line with CPW knowledge. That’s lower than two assaults per 12 months.
CPW officers mentioned extra assaults and break-ins may have occurred and never been reported.
“We typically hear by means of the rumor mill or grapevine of bears getting in by means of open home windows or coming into garages and that type of stuff,” Martin mentioned. “Usually, individuals need to get on social media and publish about it, however they by no means really name the authorities. We don’t solely need calls when one thing escalates to this stage. We wish to have the ability to do some administration earlier than issues get to this stage.”
CPW recommends bearproofing your own home by:
- Preserve rubbish in a well-secured location and solely put out rubbish on the morning of pickup.
- Cleansing rubbish cans frequently to maintain them freed from meals odors, particularly with ammonia.
- Utilizing a bear-resistant trash can or dumpster.
- Taking down chook feeders between April 15 and Nov. 15. Chicken feeders are a significant supply of bear-human conflicts.
- Not feeding different wildlife, comparable to deer, turkeys or small mammals.
- Not permitting bears to turn out to be snug round your own home. For those who see one, yell at it, throw issues at it or make noise to scare it off.
- Securing compost piles and selecting up rotting fruit from bushes. Bears are drawn to the scent of rotting meals.
- Conserving any animals or livestock in a totally coated enclosure with electrical fencing if doable.
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