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Bear walks into Sierra Madre home
A bear "broke" into a man's home in Sierra Madre, drawing a hilarious reaction from the homeowner, who asked if the wild animal was willing to play nice.
SIERRA MADRE, Calif. - A Sierra Madre resident was in for a big surprise Tuesday, after a black bear walked right through his open back door and into his kitchen, and he caught the whole thing on video.
Jason Wightman shared the video on Facebook. He said he was washing his dishes around 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, when all of a sudden, he noticed a bear peaking its head in.
"Are you nice, you're in my house," Wightman was heard asking the bear as it sniffed around. The bear looked around, only half inside the house, sniffing, drooling and licking its lips.
Wightman then gets loud, shouting "get out of my house." Though not clearly seen on camera, Wightman then sprayed the bear with water, which seemed to convince the bear. He then followed the bear into the backyard, where he was in for an even bigger surprise — another bear.
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Bear enters Sierra Madre home
A Sierra Madre resident was in for a surprise when a bear walked into his kitchen while he was washing the dishes. (Credit Jason Wightman)
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Bear wanders into home in Sierra Madre
A Sierra Madre man was surprised in his kitchen after a black bear wandered into his home. The man kept his cool and that bear, and another bear in the backyard eventually left.
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The pair retreated to the far end of the yard against the fence. Wightman, hoping they wouldn't try and climb and break his fence, opened a gate and tried to urge them through, but they didn't listen. They climbed the fence anyway.
According to the National Park Service, Wightman handled his encounter well. The NPS recommends talking calmly, "so the bear knows you're human and not a prey animal" and staying calm, but says not to make loud noises or scream at the bear, because it might think it's the sound of a prey animal.
Ultimately, one of the bears jumped out of the yard, while the other ended up in the neighbor's yard. "I'm gonna call her right now," Wightman said.
The U.S. Forest Service estimates there are between 25,000 and 35,000 black bears in California.