Watch CBS News

'One Of The Best House Guests': Nevada City Homeowners Scare Away Bear Inside Their Home

NEVADA CITY (CBS13) - Melissa Bryant is no stranger in the kitchen, but she and her husband woke up at the crack of dawn Monday morning to a complete and not-so-cuddly stranger roaming inside their home.

"Came out of the bedroom and he said, 'Holy pshhh! There's a bear in our kitchen!'" Bryant said.

Bryant and her husband grabbed their cat out of the living room as they scrambled back into the bedroom when the bear turned toward them.

She picked up the phone, called 9-1-1 for help and planned a strategy to get the bear out from the front door which it barged through earlier.

"At one point, the bear turned around to go into the bathroom, and that's when I ran to open the sliding glass door over here so that he could run out," Bryant told CBS13 at the scene.

The bear then plopped back down on the ground. Bryant said he slurped up some Nesquik, rummaged through the freezer and ate some Cheerios.

Bryant's husband, Alan, used a headlamp to try and get the bear's attention to get it out of the house. Eventually, the bear had it full at their home and left.

"It was kind of like 'Alright, I've been here 15 minutes. I think I'm ready to go.' And then he went out the door I had opened earlier," Bryant said. "It was crazy."

After the bear left, Bryant called 9-1-1 again to let them know that it was no longer in the home and that they no longer needed assistance.

Aside from a damaged box of Eggos and the screen door, the home wasn't torn up.

"He didn't ruin anything. Like my husband said, 'That's one of the best house guests we've ever had,'" Bryant said.

Bryant believes that this bear made another appearance at a neighbor's kitchen, too. Though, she says it was a comfortable bear around people.

"Which is exciting and not all at the same time. I don't want it to hurt anybody but this is its place. It lives in the nature," Bryant said.

Aside from Bryant and her neighbor, there have been plenty of other bear sightings, including one last week in Meyers where a homeowner shot a bear, and another where a mother and her cubs took a swim near people at Pope Beach.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said bears are becoming bolder around people and making a home inside people's homes.

"They're finding food. They're finding trash and garbage, and all of this is attracting them and keeping them in more developed communities where we really don't want them," said Peter Tira, with Fish and Wildlife.

The interesting encounter with wildlife serves as another reminder to lock up your doors and secure your trash to ward off any nearby bears.

"We'll definitely be closing the easiest access for it, throwing stuff away, don't keep food out overnight," Bryant said.

Bryant owns a restaurant where she disposes of her trash, so that's not a typical issue for them. She believes the bear may have caught a whiff of the dinner they had that night after she was finished cleaning the kitchen and it wanted to stop by.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.