Julia Marnin
The Charlotte Observer
A huge black bear became “the worst houseguest EVER” after he wandered inside a New Hampshire woman’s home and got himself trapped for nearly an hour, she says.
The mammal made “a BIG mess” in the home’s mud porch and chomped on a door knob, Melissa Anne Kelley-Champney wrote March 27 on Facebook sharing photos of the destruction.
“When he was finished removing the sheetrock, insulation and studs he ate the doorknob,” she said in reply to a comment under her post. She described the bear as “enormous” and likely “well over 400 pounds.”
Photos show a damaged door knob and torn insulation hanging from the walls.
The bear entered her Grafton home around 2:30 a.m. March 27 and was there for about 45 minutes, Kelley-Champney told McClatchy News.
“I was never all that afraid for anything but his safety — black bears are very timid and he only wanted out,” she added.
“He caused extensive damage,” but she noted that she and her husband “live in a very rural area and wildlife happens.”
Kelley-Champney believes the bear got in after they left the porch door open. She said they’ve left the door open for eight years and other creatures have wandered in such as a baby skunk and birds.
“Every SINGLE time he came at the house door I just kicked it and said LOUD ‘NO! BAD BEAR WRONG DOOR’ and he went back to trying to eat and claw his way out from a different side,” she wrote on Facebook. She added that he “was pretty good at staying away from the front door,” when she banged on it.
One person commented that the bear “must’ve been very panicked,” and Kelley-Champney replied, saying he was.
“I could hear him breathing heavily, almost panting.”
Eventually, her husband climbed through their home’s window and onto the roof before getting off and opening the porch door to let the bear out, she said, adding that she’s “grateful he was brave enough.”
Black bears are the only bears that live in the state, according to New Hampshire Fish and Game.
The agency advises to “keep your distance” during a bear encounter.
“Make it aware of your presence by clapping, talking, singing or making other sounds.”
Kelley-Champney emphasized that “this is not the bears fault — black bears are timid and normally unobtrusive — He just found himself in an unfortunate situation.”
In November, a bear closed a woman’s front door in New Jersey in an encounter captured on video and shared online, McClatchy News previously reported.
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