Bear cubs climb trees, break into San Bernardino County home in wild encounter caught on video

GREEN VALLEY LAKE (KABC) -- Three bear cubs broke into a home in San Bernardino County, climbing into a third-story window in the middle of the night, and the wild encounter was caught on video.

Tom Vander Wende says it was 2 a.m. Monday when his dogs started barking.

Before he actually saw the cubs, he first thought it was an intruder.

"We've never, ever, ever had bears this close to my house. So I go running outside...I'm right here on this end of the deck, looking out and within a 10-foot radius, I can hear raawwr, rawwrrr... and I'm like what is that?"

He says a mama bear and her three cubs wandered onto their Green Valley Lake property overnight. When he realized what was going on, he started recording video of one of the cubs climbing a tree right outside a window.

What he didn't realize is that at least one cub had already been inside the house, by scaling the tall trees and using a third-story window to get inside.

Realizing the bear had been inside, his son went to check on his guinea pigs the next morning.

Wende ran upstairs to find his office was ransacked.

It appears the bear clawed through the screen window as it was apparently tempted by the smell of guinea pig food.

The bears then made a run for it.

"Then we catch them shimmying down and I can't sleep the rest of the night," he said.

If you're worried about the fate of the guinea pigs? Wende says don't fret.

"The guinea pigs are alive... we found them!"

But, Wende says the bear behavior is part of a concerning trend.

"The bears have been super active this season. I don't know why that is... maybe the burn a couple years ago burned them out."

Ann Bryant, executive director of the Bear League, says recent fires have forced bears into more populated areas. And if you come face-to-face with one?

"That's the first thing you look at, is how did they get in, because you don't want to block their escape route and then yell at them to get out," she said.

Wende says he's just grateful no one got hurt, adding he bets mama bear feels the same way.

"She turned her back on them for five minutes like teenagers... But yeah, all's well that ends well."