Sweet-toothed bear raids 'chocolate factory'

Last week a young black bear broke into The Estes Park Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Colorado and ate himself silly with chocolate treats from the sweet shop. Owner of the store Jo Adams came into work when something struck her as odd, a candy tin and one cellophane wrapper on the floor and dirt on top of her check out counter. Jo thought, “Oh darn, one of those pesky ground squirrels has got in the store and upset a few things.” Jo called her son Eric Adams to come and help her find the critter and clean up before she opened the store. The two searched and searched but they couldn’t find the offender. Jo has recently put in four surveillance cameras in the shop and Eric decided to check the cameras.

At first glance, they noticed a shadowy figure in the video and couldn’t quite make out what it was. Soon however, the figure stood up next to the front counter and Jo could begin to make out the shape of the body and then noticed some black fuzzy ears on top if it’s head. Jo blurted out, “That’s a bear!” Sometime during the night, a young black bear had got into the shop and made himself at home, enjoying lots and lots of chocolatey treats. The bear takes mouthfuls of candy from the display rack at the counter and then walks out the door and eats it on the sidewalk. As soon as he finished, he’d come back in for another mouthful and take it back outside, eat it then come back for more. All in all the bear went in and out of the shop seven times in a matter of 20 minutes.

YouTube link.

At one point, he came back in and placed his paws on the glass display case, leaving nothing but footprints, doing no damage at all. At one point, he hopped over the counter and walked behind the candy case which was sealed and he jumped up on the back counter and traipsed along, stepping over items, not disturbing a thing. Jo was amazed at how gentle and polite this bear was. Not a thing was damaged in the entire store and he left twenty minutes later. This bear certainly satisfied his sweet tooth. Apparently, the bear’s favorite things were the chocolate covered Rice Krispie Treats, peanut butter cups, a special Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory treat called Balls of Joy, English Toffee and Cookie Bears.

Jo stated, “That little bugger ate a lot of candy!” After discovering that the bear had been in the store, Jo enlisted the help of family members and employees to clean, disinfect and throw out anything the bear had any contact with. Apparently, the bear was able to get in due to a faulty lock on the door which didn’t latch properly. He slipped his claws underneath the door and was able to pop the door open. The lock was immediately replaced and the bear has not able to break into the store again. The following evening the bear came back as evidenced by some muddy paw prints left on the door yet he left disappointed since the door had been repaired. Jo doesnt’ want any harm to come to this bear. She said, “He was just doing what bears do …eat! He was hungry.”