N.C. woman finds bear eating dog food inside home

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- A North Carolina woman says she entered her daughter's apartment and found a bear, who had entered by opening an unlocked door, roaming through the home.

Asheville Fire Department spokeswoman Kelley Klope told local news outlets the mother called emergency personnel Tuesday night after spotting the bear eating some pet food.

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologist Mike Carraway says the bear smelled dog food right inside the door and was able to get in through the door by pulling down on the unlocked handle.

Klope says crews arrived and hit on the ceiling to scare the bear, which then left unharmed.

Klope says all that was left in the wake of the bear's visit was a broken flowerpot and blind.

Carraway says similar break-ins are rare, with this being the first one this year in the Asheville area.

It's at least the second time this week that a bear has made a cameo in an unlikely place in the U.S. On Wednesday, a black bear wandered through the hallway at a Bozeman, Montana, high school.

In:
• North Carolina