Hungry bear on the brink of hibernate broke in Nevada house and attacked aged couple inside | EUROtoday

An aged couple was injured after a bear broke into their house close to the California-Nevada border searching for meals earlier than hibernating for the winter.

At the Stateline, Nevada, property close to Lake Tahoe, an 87-year-old man went into his storage at round 4:30 a.m. and unexpectedly got here head to head with the bear because it looked for meals, in line with the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

As the person backed away, the bear scratched his hand and adopted him into the home. Inside, the creature additionally scratched the 87-year-old girl. The bear ultimately left the house, the division stated. It’s not instantly clear how lengthy the animal was inside.

The pair sustained “minor hand injuries” and had been handled on the hospital. They’ve since been launched.

“We are grateful that these individuals sustained minor injuries and are okay,” Shawn Espinosa, Game Division Administrator for the division, stated in a press release. “Bears are still experiencing hyperphagia, or a phase where they build up as many calories as possible before going into their dens for winter. To ensure bears make their ways to their dens, it is important that residents secure attractants.”

The division urged these dwelling in bear nation to take security precautions to keep away from an analogous incident.

Residents had been inspired to safe their rubbish cans. “Around 90% of bear incidents start with unsecured trash,” the division warned.

Other suggestions embrace eradicating meals, trash, and different scented gadgets from autos, securing doorways and home windows when away or in unoccupied rooms in a single day, and putting in electrical fencing round beehives and hen coops.

For those that see a bear approaching their house, the division inspired attempting to scare the creature away by banging on pots and pans, yelling by way of an open window, or triggering a automotive alarm.

“Yelling things like ‘Hey bear!’ or ‘Get out of here bear!’ alerts those around you to what’s going on,” the discharge said. “These methods can help ‘negatively condition’ bears to humans and houses and teach them that it is not okay to enter these areas.”