TECHNICALLY not outdoors, because it happened inside my house... but something from the outdoors came in, so it still counts, right?!?!
I was upstairs putting 2 of my kids down to bed, and my wife was downstairs in our bedroom feeding the baby (do NOT Rule #1 me... aint happening, bub). I came out of the kids room, and was heading down the stairs. My dog was a little behind me. I heard a little noise in the living room, and looked at the window beside the TV, and there was a freaking bear sticking his head in my window!
My pistol and the bear spray was down in the bedroom. So I put my dog on hip, and then sent her down to clear the room (as we have worked on 1,000 times, so glad for that training tonight!). Hearing me, the bear decided to casually back out of the window. Then he got kind of stuck, his front shoulders weren't going through, and he was beginning to panic. I was worried what might happen if the dog actually got ahold of this stupid bear, as she was coming UNGLUED at this point (good dog!!!).
As she raced down the stairs, I started yelling and looking around for something. Only thing in arms reach was a Leggo T-Rex my kid had left on the stairs. So, I chunked it, and it exploded into 100 pieces on the bear's left ear. This seemed to motivate the bear appropriately, who finally pulled free and knocked my window off track. He left a pretty good tuft of hair on the broken screen frame. Thankfully, the T-Rex arrived before the dog, who was only moments behind and almost jumped through the window chasing the bear.
All said and done, probably the best possible result from a bear invasion. Dog performed admirably, exactly as trained. I've never been so thankful for my kids leaving toys laying around... ha ha! This bear is a yearling, still with momma (who is a huge freaking sow). I have had several run-ins with them this summer, but never anything like this. Sheriff and Game Warden came by to inspect, got to have a great chat with my GW buddy about better ways to deter these problem bears, before we have to shoot them. This particular bear will get no more warnings from me if it is anywhere near my house or kids. I've already beaned it in the head with a rock about 3 weeks ago in my back yard.
this was the other 1/2 of the sliding window, where he was smelling before moving to the other side to break in next to the couch. These claw marks are about the width of your hand, just a little guy!
I was upstairs putting 2 of my kids down to bed, and my wife was downstairs in our bedroom feeding the baby (do NOT Rule #1 me... aint happening, bub). I came out of the kids room, and was heading down the stairs. My dog was a little behind me. I heard a little noise in the living room, and looked at the window beside the TV, and there was a freaking bear sticking his head in my window!
My pistol and the bear spray was down in the bedroom. So I put my dog on hip, and then sent her down to clear the room (as we have worked on 1,000 times, so glad for that training tonight!). Hearing me, the bear decided to casually back out of the window. Then he got kind of stuck, his front shoulders weren't going through, and he was beginning to panic. I was worried what might happen if the dog actually got ahold of this stupid bear, as she was coming UNGLUED at this point (good dog!!!).
As she raced down the stairs, I started yelling and looking around for something. Only thing in arms reach was a Leggo T-Rex my kid had left on the stairs. So, I chunked it, and it exploded into 100 pieces on the bear's left ear. This seemed to motivate the bear appropriately, who finally pulled free and knocked my window off track. He left a pretty good tuft of hair on the broken screen frame. Thankfully, the T-Rex arrived before the dog, who was only moments behind and almost jumped through the window chasing the bear.
All said and done, probably the best possible result from a bear invasion. Dog performed admirably, exactly as trained. I've never been so thankful for my kids leaving toys laying around... ha ha! This bear is a yearling, still with momma (who is a huge freaking sow). I have had several run-ins with them this summer, but never anything like this. Sheriff and Game Warden came by to inspect, got to have a great chat with my GW buddy about better ways to deter these problem bears, before we have to shoot them. This particular bear will get no more warnings from me if it is anywhere near my house or kids. I've already beaned it in the head with a rock about 3 weeks ago in my back yard.
this was the other 1/2 of the sliding window, where he was smelling before moving to the other side to break in next to the couch. These claw marks are about the width of your hand, just a little guy!