Bear Sneaks Up on Connecticut Bakers and Steals Their Cupcakes

A sugar-craving bear wandered into a bakery in Connecticut on Wednesday, scaring away the employees as it tucked into their cupcakes. The bear accessed Taste by Spellbound, the bakery based in Avon, Connecticut, via a garage at the back of the store, where one of the employees was loading cakes into a delivery vehicle. The bear then ventured further into the bakery's garage, devouring over 60 cupcakes. A post shared by bakery owner Miriam Stephens on Instagram shows the destruction left by the hungry bear. In the caption, Stephens describes how the employee in the garage, Maureen, ran away from the bear when she saw it in the garage. "She ran into the kitchen as fast as she could and slammed the door that goes into the loading area and held it tight. The bear then MOVED one of our fridges in front of the door," Stephens wrote. "We all were stunned for a second trying to figure out what to do while she held the door shut. I immediately called 911. Lisa then had a brilliant idea to go out the front and get in her car to drive around back and she started beeping her horn like a crazy person. She finally got him out and Maureen ran to the garage to close it as fast as she could."

"The bear destroyed 60 cupcakes [and] a bunch of coconut cake." The bear was likely a black bear, as there are little to no grizzly bears in Connecticut. There are around 340,000 to 460,000 black bears across the U.S., with Connecticut being home to about 1,000 to 1,200, according to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP). DEEP has recorded over 2,900 bear sightings since the start of 2023, and more than 990 cases of human-bear conflict. Stephens told local news CT Insider that bears had never gotten that close to the bakery before, but they had been previously seen around the bakery's outdoor trash area. "There have been many instances over the past three years being at this location that we've started to go outside and literally have to run back in because there's a bear in the trash, and we always joked about one coming in," she said. "But that was a joke. Until yesterday...it decided to." The bear apparently made a "bluff charge" at the employee in the garage, a DEEP spokesperson told CT Insider, which is when a bear makes themselves appear larger and more intimidating to scare away a threat.

Bears usually only eat berries and nuts in the wild, along with insects and smaller animals, but the are drawn to human settlements by the smell of food and garbage. This can be dangerous for both. People can be attacked by the bears, and bears may end up being shot, or hit by cars. Bears who often come into human areas may become habituated to our presence, and therefore less scared, leading them to become more adventurous. The bear eventually left, but DEEP has set up a trap baited with sweet treats outside of the bakery in case the bear comes back for more snacks. In that case, DEEP plans to remove the bear and release it further away.

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"I'm so thankful Maureen was safe and wasn't hurt, as well as the rest of the team," Stephens wrote in the Instagram post. Connecticut locals are advised by DEEP to limit the likelihood of bears approaching their homes by not feeding the bears, keeping garbage secured and not left out overnight, and by not keeping pet food outdoors. Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about bears? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.