Bear cub raids kitchen in Whitefish

A Whitefish woman and her son went home Wednesday night to find a bear cub frolicking on her kitchen counter.

He decided to have a party in my kitchen, said the woman, who asked not to be identified. She lives on North Woods Drive.

After the bear slurped up some cinnamon rolls, it rolled around with its nose in a jar of honey on the counter, she said, making a big, sticky mess and evoking images of Winnie the Pooh.

But there was nothing cuddly or cute about finding the bear in her house, the woman said.

When she and her son arrived, they could hear a commotion inside and could see the animal on the counter through a window.

They hurried back to their car and called for help. The woman took her son to a neighbor s house and she and her neighbor returned to her house to wait for an animal warden to arrive.

The bear had pushed open a sliding glass door to get inside, she said. Within a few minutes, it ambled out the door and off the porch.

The animal warden set a trap for the bear, but neighbors planned to meet with fish-and-game officials Thursday night to talk about the problem.

I ve never had a problem with bears before, she said. This is the first year she hasn t had a large dog in the yard though, too, she said.

This one has been terrorizing the neighborhood. He s really accustomed to people.

Sunday, the bear was at her house, trying to get at hummingbird feeders, she said. Other neighbors have had problems with the bear coming right up to their homes.

She s concerned that the bear will return to her house now that it s gotten in, and is also concerned that the bear might be destroyed because of its fearlessness. That bothers her more than the mopping and scrubbing she s had to do since its visit.

He didn t do much damage, she said, but the animal is definitely not welcome back.