How's this for up close and personal?! While homeowners expect to see wildlife in the forest, they never plan on having a close encounter in their kitchen, especially on a Sunday morning. A Simi Valley, California family called 911 when they discovered a black bear had broken into their home. The woman and her son hid upstairs in a bedroom while they waited for the police to arrive. Simi Valley police officers came armed with non-lethal rubber bullets to use if the bear would not leave peacefully. The projectiles are meant to scare away the bear without causing him any longterm harm. According to NBC Los Angeles,their arrival and the bear were caught on one of the officer's body cameras.
As the officers enter the home, you can hear them yell, "Get out of here, bear!" The bear high tails it out an open door and into the backyard, where the family dog gives it a little chase. You can just catch the bear as it hops the fence to escape the officers and the dog.
The reports mentioned that the bear stayed close by for about 10 minutes before finally leaving. The officers said the bear was rummaging through the fridge and had eaten a freshly-baked cake that was sitting out. Officers think the bear initially came into the home through the kitchen door. Per procedure, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife was notified.
While Simi Valley is the third largest city in Ventura County and is filled with people and cars, it's not uncommon for them to enocunter wildlife, especially closer to the foothills of nearby ranges. With frequent wildfires and low water supplies, black bears and other wild animals head into neighborhoods searching for something to eat and drink. They usually eat nuts, berries, plants, and insects. However, if they make their way into the foothill communities, they have been known to raid people's trashcans and try to get into homes. However, only 10 percent of black bears live in Southern California. The majority of the estimated 30,000 bears live in the forests of the Sierra Nevada Mountains of northern and western California. Grizzly bears, however, have not been seen in the state since the 1920s.
