A man kills a bear inside his house

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (KUSA) – A Colorado man shot and killed a bear that entered his home over the weekend.

Fortunately, no one at home was hurt.

If a bear is ready to cross your driveway, cling to your porch, or host a fundraiser, a home visit should come as no surprise, like the one that happened at Ken Mauldin’s home in Steamboat Springs on Saturday. .

Mauldin said he was in bed at 2 a.m. when he said he was woken up by his wife screaming and his dogs “going crazy”.

“When I got out of bed, Kelly started screaming, ‘There’s a bear in the house,'” he said. “So I grabbed a .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun.”

Mauldin said he recognized the shape of a bear and fired nine times.

“I shot it as soon as I could shoot it,” he said. “I shot at it, then he charged at me, and I kept shooting at it. He backed up and changed direction, going through our railing and landing on the stairs, then he slipped and ended up in heap at the bottom of the stairs.

Mauldin said someone left a door unlocked, which may have led the bear in.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said most bear encounters don’t end like this. The ministry said it relies on people to report problems with bears so wildlife officers can tailor advice to individual homes and neighborhoods.

“We are seeing a lot of bears coming into homes,” a department official said. “It appears that in the Steamboat area we have seen an increase this year with bears entering through unlocked doors and windows.”

If a bear breaks into your home, the department says the best thing to do is to call and report it.

No matter how it ends, no one wants to deal with an unexpected visitor like a bear in their home.

“I just recognized it was a bear, and my immediate thought was to protect my family and put it down,” Mauldin said.

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