We've all heard by now of "cocaine bear" courtesy the recent Hollywood film of the same name, based on a real-life incident where a she-bear stumbled upon and consumed a stash of cocaine, to tragic consequences.
A less tragic tale of ursine excess was reported this week in Connecticut in the US, where a black bear broke into a bakery --- and made away with 60 freshly made cupcakes.
The Associated Press reports that "workers at Taste by Spellbound in the town of Avon were loading cakes into a van for delivery on Wednesday when the bear showed up". The report notes that "there are between 1,000 and 1,200 black bears living in Connecticut" as per the state environmental agency, "with sightings last year in 158 of the state’s 169 towns and cities".
The bakery's owner shared that her first intimation of their hirsute visitor was when one of her employees screamed for help, shouting that a bear had gotten into the bakery's garage. No doubt the bear was drawn by the smell of the fresh out of the oven cupcakes, for as the owner recounted in interviews with news organisations, she tried to scare the bear off, only for it to retreat briefly and then return. This happened three times. Finally, the owner had to run out of the garage when the bear rushed towards her.
AP reports that surveillance video of the bakery showed "the bear dragging a container of cupcakes from the garage into the parking lot". The staff at the bakery said the bear had eaten no fewer than 60 cupcakes, before one of the employees was finally able to scare it off by honking a car horn, well before the authorities arrived on the scene.
No injuries to humans or bear were reported in the encounter, although the same cannot be said of the departed cupcakes. No matter how much it loved the cupcakes, this is one customer the bakery surely hopes will not be returning for seconds (or with the intention of becoming a regular).
