Marauding
bear
still at large
By GREG
MOORE
Express Staff Writer
A large
black bear plaguing West Ketchum residents this month, and thought to have
been trapped last week, is still on the loose.
A
black bear invited itself to dinner last Wednesday about 11:15 p.m. at the
Ketchum home of Steve and Lisa Horowitz. Photo
courtsey of Steve Horowitz
Idaho
Department of Fish and Game officers had been trying to catch the bear
ever since it began entering houses following a collision July 21 with a
car on Highway 75. The collision left the bear with an injured right front
paw.
A bear was
trapped in West Ketchum on Monday of last week and relocated near Galena
Summit. However, it was not the bear officers had been chasing.
That became
clear this week when the lame bear entered three more houses.
The first
break-in occurred last Wednesday about 11:15 p.m. at the home of Steve and
Lisa Horowitz on Wood River Drive.
Steve
Horowitz said the bear entered the house after ripping off a storm window
while he and his wife were asleep in their bedroom. He said that when they
were awakened by noises coming from the other end of the one-story house,
he walked down the hall expecting to meet his teenage daughter coming in
the door. Instead, when he reached the mud room, he turned and saw a
300-pound bear walking out of the den.
"I
must have walked right by him when I dashed out of the bedroom to the
entry way," he said.
Horowitz
yelled to his wife to stay in the bedroom and called 911. He said Ketchum
police officers arrived but did not seem to have a good plan to deal with
the bear. Idaho Fish and Game officers were notified and showed up about
an hour later.
Meanwhile,
the Horowitzes had gone outside and watched as the bear entered the
kitchen and began snacking.
"It
looked like it knew just what it was doing," Horowitz said. "He
walked over to the refrigerator and opened both doors. It immediately
pulled out ice cream. It ate like a teenager—sugar and ice cream."
Horowitz
said that when the bear stood up, it was at least a foot taller than the
refrigerator.
The bear
spent about two hours in the house. Idaho Fish and Game officers advised
that trying to chase the bear out would probably result in more damage
than just letting it finish eating and leave on its own. So the spectators
watched as the bear went into cupboards and dragged food into the den,
where it seemed to prefer dining. Horowitz said it ate a three-pound bag
of sugar, a bag of brown sugar and boxes of cereal.
While the
bear was in the den, Horowitz dashed into the living room and opened glass
doors onto a patio. When it was done eating, the bear waddled out onto the
patio and disappeared.
Horowitz
said that when he first heard noises, he assumed it was his daughter,
Grace, returning home. However, it turned out to be fortunate that she
hadn’t come in, since the 2-by-3-foot window through which the bear
entered is directly above her bed.
Idaho Fish
and Game conservation officer Lee Frost said the bear trap has been reset
near the Horowitz’ home.
"We
definitely do have a bear with an injured right front foot still running
around Ketchum," he said. "We’d like to get our hands on him
and see what’s going on."
Frost said
the bear has not acted aggressively toward people.