Bear enters Gibsons home, gets punched in the face

A family on the Sunshine Coast had a terrifying visit from an unlikely intruder recently.

A black bear entered a house in the Franklin Beach area of Gibsons, and was at first refusing to leave. Police say that on August 19th, Elery Froude and her two sons were at home at around 5:30 pm when the mother heard her 2 1/2 year old yell. Froude then saw the bear coming through a sliding glass door.

The bear proceeded to walk around the house, going into most of the rooms, even drooling on the dining room table. The mother of two locked herself and her children in a bedroom while a family friend ‘yelled, banged pots, and shook chairs’ according to police.

A brief stand-off ensued as the bear stood half in the house and half out – the family friend then slammed a door on the bear before finally punching it in the nose, which caused the bear to retreat outside. Once outside the door was closed but the bear began pawing at the door and chewing the door’s screen.

Police attended the scene and scared the bear into the bushes by using air horns and throwing water bottles at it. However a short time later the bear returned to the house and tried to open the door to the garage. RCMP say it also chased a man down a street before he was able to jump into his truck.

Sunshine Coast RCMP Media Relations Officer Karen Whitby says that the Conservation Officer Service (COS) determined that due to the bears’ ‘aggressive actions and lack of fear of humans’ it would be destroyed. The adult male was estimated to weigh between 220-250 lbs and according to COS Sargent Dean Miller did not have any signs that it had been suffering from any illnesses that would have resulted in the unusually brazen behaviour.