Some visitors never announce their arrival, and others just let themselves in—especially, it seems, if they have a well-developed sweet tooth and no respect for locked doors. Residents of Pine Mountain Club in California got a memorable reminder of just how creative local wildlife can be about finding a snack. As UPI reports, and as details confirmed in KABC’s coverage make clear, a bear recently broke into a home and spent nearly an hour indulging in a remarkably varied culinary adventure.
Bear Burglaries: The Snack Selection Process
Bridget Conley’s morning started in a somewhat modern—but thoroughly unwelcome—way: home security alerts at 6:15 a.m., with footage that left no doubt about the size or intent of the interloper. Conley told KABC, “He was huge… this bear was the biggest bear that we have seen.” Security video, described by the outlet, shows the bear kicking the door open and confidently making his entrance. Not long after, Conley’s camera captured him heading outside with a bag of chips, suggesting the bear had snack preferences honed by experience.
KABC notes the bear didn’t confine himself to dry goods. After depleting most of the dog food, he made visits to both the refrigerator and freezer, ransacking for whatever piqued his interest. The process unfolded like a one-animal buffet: “Once he broke in, he would go in, ransack and pick something that he wanted to eat, come back outside to eat it and then go back,” Conley explained to both outlets.
According to UPI, the bear’s chosen menu included dog food, cookies, a container of turbinado sugar, a bag of chips, and—briefly—a bottle of Worcestershire sauce. Conley speculated in conversations with both news outlets that the bear may have mistaken the sauce for syrup, tossing it aside once he realized his error. “He did not like that,” she observed dryly.
Priorities (and Upset Stomachs?)
Not every pantry staple passed muster. Conley recounted to UPI that the bear was selective in his mayhem, observing, “He left the vodka,”—a detail she recounted with some amusement to KABC as well. Apparently, while the lure of sugar and savory snacks was irresistible, the spirit aisle was of no interest. Whether this reflects dietary prudence, a lack of opposable thumbs, or simply poor pairing options is left to the imagination.
The footage reviewed by KABC underscores a pattern that any midnight snacker might recognize: quick, deliberate trips for one treat at a time, followed by a brief retreat to a preferred dining spot. It’s a routine with a universal logic—though seeing it enacted by a bear makes for a singular kind of slapstick.
Mess, Memories, and Questions Left Hanging
The aftermath for Conley wasn’t as fleeting as the bear’s visit. As she explained to KABC, hours of deep cleaning followed the ursine ransacking, with groceries scattered and a door left worse for wear. Yet there’s a strange comfort in knowing the vodka survived, untouched—a small mercy, perhaps, amid the chaos.
There’s gentle irony in the bear’s culinary explorations and the way both outlets chronicled them. Was this unwelcome guest drawing on past experience, selectively avoiding certain bottles or brands? Did turmeric sugar rate higher than cookies? Even in the absence of answers, it’s difficult not to anthropomorphize his snack logic.
Nature, as documented by UPI and KABC, finds its way past even the sturdiest doors—particularly when kibble and cookies are involved. Local homeowners may be updating their door frames (and their snack hiding strategies) with more urgency, while the rest of us might consider what actually constitutes a “bear-proof” pantry. Given the apparent snobbery about Worcestershire and vodka, the lessons here might run deeper than they first appear. Sometimes, the animal kingdom’s priorities are as peculiar—and as oddly relatable—as our own.
