BYRON NEWS: Beary unexpected guest in Byron

Imagine if you will (read this in the Twilight Zone method) sleeping soundly and then awakening slowly to some rummaging in the kitchen. Assuming it is your partner, you start to fall asleep only to realize just as your partner is realizing that you are both still in bed and the kitchen rummaging is still going on. This was the scenario that Elden and Connie Sanders found themselves in in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Elden went into the kitchen to see the tail end of a bear climbing out of the kitchen window. He went and reported to Connie, who thought he was joking. But going back to the kitchen, Elden found the bear had climbed back in. The bear scrounged a banana to munch on and cleared a few things onto the floor from the counter. Back out the window he went. 

But the smell of bacon grease was too tempting, and he climbed back in and then out again. Connie reported that the bear was smart as he carefully took the screen off of the window before making his entrance. He didn’t tear through the screen. He caused the racket by getting caught up a bit in the blind, but he figured that out and was able to maneuver his way in and out a few times. 

By this time Elden had called 911 and found his camera. The bear was out in the driveway walking back toward the house when Elden snapped his mug shot. 

It was a busy night for the sheriff, police and Game and Fish as they looked over the area. It was still dark, and one officer reported seeing some eyes from a bush looking back at him, but the bear was evasive. 

The next day, the bear still avoided being caught. My next-door neighbor saw him sauntering down the road and thought at first that it was a large dog. Upon closer viewing, she realized it was a young black bear. 

She grabbed her phone and positioned herself to get a picture, but the bear spotted her and began trotting away into my yard and right past my tomatoes and cucumbers into the back area. That was about noon, near the same time I had told Glen that I probably should give my tomatoes a drink. I got sidetracked and missed the whole adventure. 

I didn’t learn about the evasive bear in my yard until much later when I texted my neighbor about the bear in the kitchen story. She then related to me that she watched the bear head through my yard.

But the perpetrator returned to the scene of the Sanders break-in later Sunday evening. Grandkids were heading out to the car when they spotted the bear, and through their yells let it be known the bear was there.

My understanding is that a place was located to set a trap, and the bear was eventually caught. Peter and David Sanders and boys were on patrol over at their folks Sunday evening but had no sightings.

A bear in the kitchen sounds like the makings of a good children’s book. Actually having a bear in your kitchen is pretty scary. Thankfully, all is well.