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Subscribe to RSSA young black bear is caught on camera breaking in to a Colorado chocolate factory and eating the store's candy. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.
So a bear walks into a candy store …
And the store owner later says, “That little bugger ate a lot of candy!”
Jo Adams, owner of the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Estes Park, Colo., has the video to prove it. She tells the Estes Park News that four surveillance cameras she recently installed in her shop caught the baby black bear in action.
Adams came to work one day last week and found a candy tin and a cellophane wrapper on the floor and dirt on top of her checkout counter. She initially thought, “Oh darn, one of those pesky ground squirrels has gotten in the store and upset a few things,” she told the newspaper.
She and her son searched but couldn’t find the offender. That’s when they decided to check footage from the store cameras.
The video showed the bear wandering in the front door, which had a faulty lock, and helping himself to mouthfuls of candy from the display rack at the counter before sauntering back outside and chomping down the chocolate treats on the sidewalk.
The bear repeats the routine several times in a matter of 20 minutes, helping himself to an assortment of chocolate-covered Rice Krispie Treats, peanut butter cups, a special Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory treat called Balls of Joy, English Toffee and -- no surprise here -- Cookie Bears, according to the Estes Park News.
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Adams told the newspaper she has since replaced the locks and the bear has not been able to break in again.
She said customers who’ve heard about the ursine bandit’s exploits want to order the same treats the bear enjoyed.
“At least five times a day people come in to order the exact same things the bear ate; I love it, we’ve been making extras of these particular treats just to keep up with the demand!” she told the newspaper.
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Leave a Comment:
Awwww cute baby bear XD
Awww cute baby bear. yeah right you wouldn't say that if you came face to face with it. He was looking for bit-o-honey.
Too cute, but too young to be starting a life of "crime".
I know that chocolate is bad for dogs, so I wonder if it's just as bad for bears...if so, maybe he/she has already learned their lesson.
Black bears are harmless..its the Chicago Bears you have to worry about!
@clarkjoebob
Oh come on. I have black bears walking through my year pretty much every other day, and they are harmless. Sure I wouldn't walk up and start petting one, but I probably could.
Bet he loved the gummy Bears.
Clearly, he has been casing this joint for weeks... Hope they catch him—mammals like that never change.
Cute, but dangerous. There's a good chance that Fish and Game will hunt it down and relocate it the first time. A second offence will probably end up with it being killed. Bears can be destructive and dangerous when habituated to human presence. This may look amusing but it is actually bad for both people and the bears.
Our Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a huge toy bear sitting on the bench outside.
Coincidence? I think not.
Babs, almost all of the RMCF stores have a giant toy bear somewhere. Maybe the cub was just looking for a friend!
I had one opening my freezer which is outside on back porch, maybe after eating 3 pizzas and some frozen chicken breats he went to colorado for dessert....
But Mr. Ranger... Boo-Boo and I were only after the pick-a-nick baskets......
I'd love to see the idiots who subscribe to the 10 round mag restriction on firearms have one of those come into their house... Happened to a cousin of mine...luckily they only got on the porch through the screen. If you don't have a 44mag or larger, you'll need a lot more than 10 rounds.
You must be the biggest wussy in your county. A black bear is basically harmless. Did you get your rocks off with your cousin before the bear 'interrupted' you?
Like Yogi...he's smarter than the average bear...
I was in Denver, Colorado in 2010 with a group of high school students attending a conference. I visited two Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factories in Denver. The chocolate was excellent, bought about $100 worth between the two stores to take back home to Missouri where I live. This bear knows where to find delicious chocolate as evidenced by the fact he kept returning as will I if I am ever in Colorado again. I am glad though that no one was hurt and no major damage to the shop was done.
VeryFancy - Have you not heard of Bissinger's Chocolates in St. Louis, Missouri? Best ever. Don't know where you live in MO, but it has to be closer than Denver. Rocky Mountain is good chocolate, but no comparison to Bissinger's. Try their chocolate-covered raspberries Yummm.
Go BooBoo!
I'm glad that the new lock is keeping the bear out for now. Don't count on it though. I've seen the damage that bears can do; ripping doors from their casings, ripping cupboards off of the walls, completely trashing places. Its not pretty.
I do love Rocky Mountain Chocolate though so I can't really blame the bear!
I am a resident of Estes Park, and the bears have been a problem here. Mainly because of the drought situation, ( although Estes has been getting rain daily for the past 2 weeks) the wildlife here are desperate for food. Bears have been spotted all over town . Bears need to consume up to 20,000 calories a day to fatten up for the late fall and winter. With our snowpack in the National Park being very sad for a decent spring runoff which was about 1/3 the norm, not much growth happens for the berries and other goodies the bears normally eat. Breaking in to the Chocolate Factory was although cute on the camera, it is detrimental for the bear in two ways, DOW ( dept of Wildlife ) could indeed find him, tag him on his first strike, hopefully remove him to a place where he can still get some nourishment via normal things bears eat. We have 3 strike law and if he returns by the third time, even though it not his fault for raiding human sources of food and "sweets" he is put down. We publish it in our local paper all the time... a fed bear is a dead bear. Secondly, all this " sweets" he did consume, is not normal for his system... and can make them very ill and get a severe case of the runs... which leads to dehydration and a myriad of other problems. Hopefully he just got a sour stomach and decides that sweet stuff is bad for Yogi's tummy and livlihood.
Caught on camera: Coon raids treasury. Taxpayers up in arms!
I know that is bad, of course most of the people I know who don't like the POUS, don't like black people also and make stupid comments. You had better hope JC isn't black, that would be a big laugh.
I LOVE folks who are focused on the health of our country. Could'nt care less on what color JC was.
my sister in law just had her truck broken into over in Mammoth Lakes back a week ago by a juvenile Bear, he tore up her leather seats! Thing is, he knew how to open the unlocked door and get in. She knows better now
Book 'm Dano!!!
Bears are smart. I would be concerned that since he thinks he found a food source that even a new lock isn't going to last long. The wildlife services need to catch him and relocate him away from the town. He's found an easy source of food and that's a problem.
Its pretty amazing how gentle the bear was. It could have really torn that store apart, yet it almost seemed like it was being careful. Pretty funny.
LOL, straight out of the movie Open Season. Boog LOVED chocolate and even broke into a store to get it!!!
Looks like this little fellow fared much better than the preverbal “Bull in the China Shop.”