Bear helps itself to 60 cupcakes from Connecticut bakery, scares employees

THESE PLANTS ARE ON THE GROUND. CAUSING THE STRAWBERRIES TO GET BURNT BY THE FREEZE. BEAR BEWARE! LOCAL OFFICIALS ARE WARNING ABOUT AN INCREASE IN BEAR SIGHTINGS... AND PEOPLE ARE TAKING NOTICE. THIS MOST RECENT ONE WAS SEEN ROAMING AROUND A SCHOOL ON BALDWIN AVENUE áTHIS WEEKá. AND ACCORDING TO VERMONT FISH AND WILDLIFE... CHANGES IN OUR CLIMATE AND PRECIPITATION... COULD BE áDRIVING THOSE TRENDS. IN THE "BIG GAME MANAGEMENT PLAN"... THE DEPARTMENT NOTES -- AVERAGE SUMMER TEMPERATURES IN THE NORTHEAST COULD INCREASE BY TWO TO FIVE DEGREES CELSIUS BY THE YEAR 21 HUNDRED. OFFICIALS SAY... THAT MEANS WE COULD SEE HIGHER SUMMER TEMPERATURES AND WIDER VARIATIONS IN PRECIPITATION... LEADING TO THE LOSS OF NATURAL FOODS THAT ARE IMPORTANT FOR BEARS. ALREADY...THE DEPARTMENT IS SEEING BEARS EXPAND THEIR RANGE OF TRAVEL... IN SEARCH OF FOOD. AND OFFICIALS SAY... HARVEST NUMBERS ARE INCREASING IN LOWER ELEVATION TOWNS... AND PEOPLE ARE NOT USED TO LIVING WITH BEARS... ARE NOW SEEING THEM MORE OFTEN. RECENTLY, PEOPLE IN WILLISTON... ESSEX... AND SOUTH BURLINGTON... HAVE REPORTED INCIDENTS... SPOTTED ON THEIR PROPERTY CAMERAS. I SPOKE WITH WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT ABOUT THE TRENDS WE'RE SEEING... AND THE áNEIGHBORS... EXPERIENCING IT FIRST-HAND. JUST MINUTES AWAY FROM VERMONT ROUTE 2A CONNTECTING WILLISTON TO ESSEX PHILIP STEVENS GOT AN UNLIKELY VISITOR WITH A PRETTY BIG APPETITE. 10;11;43;00 - 10;11;54;12 PHILIP STEVENS BEAR SIGHTER <"I STARTED BEING VERY CAREFUL IN THE SPRINGTIME TAKING MY BIRD FEEDERS IN AT DUSK SO I WOULDN'T TAKE THE CHANCE THAT A BEAR WOULD COME AT NIGHT. WELL UNFORTUNATELY THIS BEAR DIDN'T KNOW THAT RULE"> A BEAR WANDERING THROUGH THE WILLISTON NEIGHBORHOOD HAD FOUND IT'S WAY TO THE TWO BIRD FEEDERS HANNGING BY THE PORCH -- BEFORE STEVENS MANAGED TO SCARE IT OFF. WHILE DEERS, RABBITS, AND BIRDS ARE A COMMON VISITOR HE SAYS IT WAS SHOCKING TO SEE BEARS NEARLY HIS HEIGHT JUST FEET AWAY FROM THE FRONT DOOR. 10;17;27;06 - 10;17;44;01 PHILIP STEVENS BEAR SIGHTER <"THE SAD PART IS THE BEARS NEED THE FOOD AND ESPECIALLY NOW THAT SO MANY DEVELOPMENTS HAVE TAKEN AWAY THEIR NATURAL HABITAT, THEY TRY TO FIND OTHER WAYS TO FIND FOOD"> EXPERTS WITH THE NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF ENIVRONMENTAL CONSERVATION TELL US BEARS ARE FOOD DRIVEN AS FOOD SCARCITY IS BECOMING A GROWING ISSUE -- CAUSING BEARS TO GO BEYOND THE ADIRONDACKS AND OTHER PARTS OF OUR REGION. LIKE 00:04:25:00 - 00:04:39:06 JEREMY HURST BUREAU OF WILDLIFE, NYS DEC "Even say, a late frost in the spring that may kill of some of the buds for apples, the blossoms and so on, we end up having higher levels of conflict those years. There's no food in the woods for bears, so they often seek it out where they can find it" MEANING THERE COULD MORE INSTANCES OF BEAR SIGNTINGS ACROSS OUR REGION OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS. 00:04:45:18 - 00:05:00:06 JEREMY HURST BUREAU OF WILDLIFE, NYS DEC <"AS CLIMATE SHIFTS AND OUR PRECIPITATION PATTERNS CHANGE...IF THAT AFFECTS THE FOOD AVAILABILITY IN A WAY THAT IS DETRIMENTAL... NATURAL THEN WE CAN EXPECT THERE'D BE SOME INCREASE IN HUMAN BEAR CONFLICTS"> THE D-E-C ADDING THAT EVERYDAY CHANGES COULD LIMIT ENCOUNTERS AND INFLUENCE ANIMAL BEHAVIOR TO STAY AWAY FROM AREAS WHERE FOOD IS NOT AVAILABLE. 10;18;44;08 - 10;18;57;14 PHILIP STEVENS BEAR SIGHTER <"BEARS ARE HERE AND WE HAVE TO BEAR IT IT'S NOT SOMETHING WE CAN DO ANYWAY, THERE NO WAY TO GET RID OF THEM SO THE BEST THING TO DO IS TO NOT GIVE THEM AN EXCUSE TO EAT"> WE JUST HAVE TO "BEAR" IT -- AND PHILIP SAYS THAT SOMETHING THAT'S WORKED FOR HIM IS TAKING HIS OWN TRASH TO DUMP AS OPPOSED TO LEAVING OUT OVER NIGHT FOR BEARS TO RUMMAGE THROUGH. Following a cold front and associated rainfall yesterday, dry conditions will take hold for the next week. Cool temperatures this morning through Thursday night will give way to a warming trend for Frid

A hungry black bear barged into the garage of a Connecticut bakery, scared several employees and helped itself to 60 cupcakes before ambling away.Related video above: Conservation experts predict increased bear encounters in the next several yearsWorkers at Taste by Spellbound in the town of Avon were loading cakes into a van for delivery on Wednesday when the bear showed up. There are between 1,000 and 1,200 black bears living in Connecticut, the state environmental agency says, with sightings last year in 158 of the state's 169 towns and cities.Bakery owner Miriam Stephens wrote in an Instagram post that she heard employee Maureen Williams "screaming bloody murder" and yelling that there was a bear in the garage.Williams told TV station WTNH that she shouted to scare the bear off but it retreated and came back three times.Williams said the bear charged at her so she backed out of the garage and ran.Surveillance video obtained by WTNH shows bakery workers walking around the side of the business to try to scare the bear, but then running away after it scares them.The video shows the bear dragging a container of cupcakes from the garage into the parking lot. Stephens said the bear ate 60 cupcakes. A baker finally got the bear to leave by honking a car horn, Williams said.The four-footed thief was gone by the time police and officers from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection arrived.No one was injured in the encounter — one in a series of troubling interactions between black bears and humans in Connecticut.A 74-year-old woman suffered bites to her arms and legs last month when she was attacked by a bear while walking her dog in a Hartford suburb, the first such attack this year. There were two attacks last year, including one in October where a 10-year-old boy was mauled in a backyard."The frequency and severity of bear-human interactions is increasing," DEEP spokesperson Paul Copleman said Friday.Statistics compiled by the department show that there were a record 67 reports of bears entering Connecticut homes in 2022. The previous record was 45 in 2020.On Friday, a bear cub wandered into a neighborhood near downtown Hartford and climbed up a tree. Local residents were delighted and surprised, saying it was highly unusual for bears to come into the city. Police, animal control officers and state environmental authorities responded, creating a scene for several hours.Authorities eventually tranquilized the young bear and planned to relocate it. Its destination was not disclosed.

AVON, Conn. —

A hungry black bear barged into the garage of a Connecticut bakery, scared several employees and helped itself to 60 cupcakes before ambling away.

Related video above: Conservation experts predict increased bear encounters in the next several years

Workers at Taste by Spellbound in the town of Avon were loading cakes into a van for delivery on Wednesday when the bear showed up. There are between 1,000 and 1,200 black bears living in Connecticut, the state environmental agency says, with sightings last year in 158 of the state's 169 towns and cities.

Bakery owner Miriam Stephens wrote in an Instagram post that she heard employee Maureen Williams "screaming bloody murder" and yelling that there was a bear in the garage.

Williams told TV station WTNH that she shouted to scare the bear off but it retreated and came back three times.

Williams said the bear charged at her so she backed out of the garage and ran.

Surveillance video obtained by WTNH shows bakery workers walking around the side of the business to try to scare the bear, but then running away after it scares them.

The video shows the bear dragging a container of cupcakes from the garage into the parking lot. Stephens said the bear ate 60 cupcakes.

A baker finally got the bear to leave by honking a car horn, Williams said.

The four-footed thief was gone by the time police and officers from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection arrived.

No one was injured in the encounter — one in a series of troubling interactions between black bears and humans in Connecticut.

A 74-year-old woman suffered bites to her arms and legs last month when she was attacked by a bear while walking her dog in a Hartford suburb, the first such attack this year. There were two attacks last year, including one in October where a 10-year-old boy was mauled in a backyard.

"The frequency and severity of bear-human interactions is increasing," DEEP spokesperson Paul Copleman said Friday.

Statistics compiled by the department show that there were a record 67 reports of bears entering Connecticut homes in 2022. The previous record was 45 in 2020.

On Friday, a bear cub wandered into a neighborhood near downtown Hartford and climbed up a tree. Local residents were delighted and surprised, saying it was highly unusual for bears to come into the city. Police, animal control officers and state environmental authorities responded, creating a scene for several hours.

Authorities eventually tranquilized the young bear and planned to relocate it. Its destination was not disclosed.

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