A bear bit a camper through her tent wall near South Fork on Friday, and a bear broke into a 17-year-old girl’s bedroom through a screen window and swatted her early Sunday near Durango, adding to the record number of bear-human conflicts this year.
On Sunday at about 2 a.m., a teen was sleeping inside a Durango condo with a screened window slightly open. The bear tore off the screen, pushed the window wider, and climbed inside while yanking down a curtain as the girl woke up.
The girl pulled blankets over her head, but the bear began sniffing around her shoulders. As she made a noise, the bear huffed and swiped at her, and she felt a paw touch her stomach. The teen screamed and sat up, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in a release, and the bear jumped back out the window before coming in again.
When the girl began screaming and yelling as the bear came in through the window a second time, it finally turned and left. The victim treated herself for three minor scratch marks, and wildlife officers also noticed bruising around the wounds.
“Based on what we know happened in this encounter, the (victim) is very lucky she had multiple blankets covering her when the bear swiped her,” said district wildlife manager Luke Clancy.
Read the full article on the Colorado Sun's website.
