Bear Cub Sneaks into Colorado Pizzeria, Passes Out
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.15.15
Employees at a pizzeria in Colorado Springs got a surprise when they found a sleepy bear cub passed out in their prep room, which had just finished dining on a tub of cinnamon bread icing.
Bear sightings are not uncommon in Colorado around this time of year, especially when the bears are eager to pack on the pounds before winter arrives. However, as small as the cub was, it did provoke a scare during its romp through town. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, the bear almost caused a local high school to go into lockdown before the school resource officer discovered it was only a cub.
The school was not the bear’s ultimate destination, though. Drawn by the smell of pizza (and presumably warm icing), the bear cub sneaked inside Louie’s Pizza in downtown Colorado Springs and managed to evade most of the shop’s workers. It was spotted by one employee, who fruitlessly tried to chase it off. However, the bear later returned and found an empty prep room. Undisturbed and left alone with a pile of goodies, the cub ate what it can and even crawled up on a shelf to take a nap.
1st spotted by Palmer High she made her way for pizza before being wrangled by DOW. pic.twitter.com/WnZLpwqCBB
— Springs Police (@CSPDPIO) September 14, 2015
It only had time to close its eyes for a wink before it was discovered.
“We went back there like somebody was joking with us,” Richard Bottroff, an employee, told KKTV. “We were like ‘there’s no bear back there.’ Then we went back there and sure enough, it’s a little baby cub.”
Wildlife officers were called and it proved to be an easy enough task for them to remove the cub, although it was tranquilized just to be safe. Officials said that the animal appears to be in good health save for a minor wound to one of its paws. It will be taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center to recover and eventually be released back into the wild.
Louie’s Pizza stated that while the bear was a distraction, it did not cause very much damage. The pizzeria’s owners said they would consider a bear-themed promotion in the near future.
You can watch interviews with employees below:
