Sierra Madre man stunned when bear walks into kitchen: 'Are you nice? You're in my house'
SIERRA MADRE, Calif. (KABC) -- A Sierra Madre man was in for a big surprise after a bear walked right through his back door and into his kitchen.
Jason Wightman was doing the dishes Tuesday evening when it happened.
He says the bear didn't make a sound as it came in his back door. He was stunned when he turned around and saw the large animal just a few feet away.
He grabbed his phone and started rolling on the encounter.
"Are you nice? You're in my house," he's heard saying in the video.
When the bear, which appeared to be young and untagged, finally left, Wightman realized the bear wasn't alone. In the video, another bear could be seen peeking out from behind some bushes.
"Is it just you two? I see you over there."
Neighbors who have seen the two bears believe they are cubs who have just left their mother.
"Usually, they're still playing with each other so you see them kind of rolling over, kind of wrestling and stuff," said Sierra Madre resident Bruce Anderson. "I've seen them on my outdoor furniture, for example. They just get on top of it and play around and then fall off the deck... It's kind of cute."
But cute also comes with concern, especially about bears becoming more brazen and accustomed to humans. Bear encounters have become all too common in Sierra Madre and the surrounding foothill areas, but so far none have turned violent.
"There's obviously a concern, because we need to be hazing them so that they can live their lives... out in the wilderness and be bears, as opposed to being habituated to people," Anderson added.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is now working on a plan to get more help from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
"The first is to encourage the state to have human wildlife specialists available, so that when there are sightings, they can come out in real-time," said Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
