Did you hear the one about the bear burglar breaking into a bungalow? No, this is not the beginning of an old joke, but the true tale of 2 terrified teens near Lake Tahoe in California.
Lifestyle
While the 2 teens watched TV at home late one Saturday night, little did they know that the person in the other room opening the refrigerator for a midnight snack wasn’t a person at all. It was a bear burglar!
“I heard footsteps, and then I heard Tupperware being opened really loudly and aggressively,” 15-year-old Hayes Sherman said. “The fridge started to beep because it was open too long,” he added.
“I was really scared. I wasn’t exactly sure of what to do. I was watching TV with my friend, and I turned the TV off. We both went to the sliding door to hold it in place so that the bear couldn’t get in,” said 15-year-old Bobby Harden.
After the teens ran and locked themselves in another room, they realized they didn’t have their phones with them. However, with the bear attempting to break down the door, Hayes used his Apple watch to call his mother.
“I whispered to her, ‘Mom, there is a bear in the house. Don’t come downstairs,’ ” Hayes said. He then hung up and called 911 while his mother called the community gatehouse and asked for a security guard.
“It was very difficult because I was whispering to 911 on my watch in a very dark room while trying to hold the door closed so the bear couldn’t get in,” Hayes said.
His mom, Susan Mohun, said she fought every urge to race down the stairs.
“That is the worst-case scenario as a parent to have a bear between you and your children. I am glad that I didn’t run downstairs because that probably would have just agitated the bear,” she added.
“It was one of the scarier parenting moments I’ve ever had, but thank God it all worked out.”
Although police were on the scene within13 minutes, it felt like an hour to the 2 teens “because it was so scary.”
Fortunately, a Nest camera in the living room captured the entire ordeal — including video footage of the black bear standing on its hind legs while sniffing around and pawing through the fridge of the family’s cabin in Truckee, California.
According to Hayes and Harden, the bear ate some taco meat, 2 pints of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, as well as some crackers.
If nothing else, these boys and their families learned a very valuable (and urban) lesson. Even in the wilderness, LOCK YOUR DOORS!
THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY!
