Granite Bay Family Gets Close Encounter With Bears

GRANITE BAY (CBS13) -- A Saturday morning breakfast took an unusual turn when four bears showed up on the property of a Granite Bay family.

Holger Fuerst said he and his wife Corinne were having breakfast when they heard their dogs barking excitedly, and when Corinne went to see what sparked the reaction, she spotted a mother brown bear and her three cubs just outside the gates around their home near Miners Ravine.

"She goes, 'Grab your camera, there's bears!'" Holger said. "It was really neat."

The bears stayed in the area for almost an hour, the three cubs taking turns climbing a tree while the mother looked on.

"When we moved here a year and a half ago the people who lived here for 30 years said you won't see any bears, mountain lions… here we are," Holger said. "We've seen deer, skunks, seen turkey of course."

The bears eventually moved on, leaving only a few tracks and some droppings. With the start of salmon season, Holger said he believes the bears were just fishing for food and hopes they move on into less populated areas.

"You start wondering how safe it is for the bears," he said. "Once they get into a confrontation with people, some warden is going to have to do something about it."

Neighbors in the area have reported similar sightings in recent days.