AVON, Conn. (AP) — 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.
Workers at Taste by Spellbound within the city of Avon have been loading muffins right into a van for supply on Wednesday when the bear confirmed up. There are between 1,000 and 1,200 black bears residing in Connecticut, the state environmental company says, with sightings final 12 months in 158 of the state’s 169 cities and cities.
Bakery proprietor Miriam Stephens wrote in an Instagram publish that she heard worker Maureen Williams “screaming bloody murder” and yelling that there was a bear within the storage.
Williams advised TV station WTNH that she shouted to scare the bear off however it 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 reveals bakery employees strolling across the facet of the enterprise to attempt to scare the bear, however then working away after it scares them.
The video reveals the bear dragging a container of cupcakes from the storage into the car parking zone. Stephens mentioned the bear ate 60 cupcakes.
A baker lastly obtained the bear to go away by honking a automotive horn, Williams mentioned.
The four-footed thief was gone by the point police and officers from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection arrived.
No one was injured within the encounter — one in a collection of troubling interactions between black bears and people in Connecticut.
A 74-year-old girl 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 increasing,” DEEP spokesperson Paul Copleman mentioned Friday.
Statistics compiled by the division present that there have been a report 67 stories of bears coming into Connecticut houses 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 up a tree. Local residents have been delighted and shocked, saying it was extremely uncommon for bears to return into 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.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”