A Florida woman says a bear broke into her home and took beer from her fridge, and her explanation was ‘I figured he was thirsty’

A Florida woman got quite the surprise when a black bear broke into her home and made itself comfortable enough to take some beer from her fridge. As first highlighted by Dexerto and WSVN, Celine Emerson of Naples, Florida, found the bear inside her home.

Emerson said seeing the bear up close was “just crazy, it was so unusual to see it, like, so close to us.” She said the bear went straight for the refrigerator and took out some alcohol.

The bear also ate trash in the front yard for about 30 minutes after its fridge raid. Emerson had a laid-back explanation for the bear’s choice of drink, saying, “I figured he was thirsty.”

She says the bear looked about six feet tall standing up

Emerson said that when she and her husband noticed the bear had opened the fridge and made itself at home, she yelled at it. She added that seeing the bear was a little scary, and that when it stood up, it looked about six feet tall.

The bear got onto the property through an unlocked gate, and Emerson later found a large paw print on her counter. She explained that the family does not usually close the gate when they come and go at night, and said she will be more careful about securing her home and gates, especially as her granddaughter gets older.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said bears eat more in the fall to build up fat reserves for the winter, even in Florida, where they don’t hibernate as long as bears in colder climates. According to the agency, an adult bear needs up to 20,000 calories a day during the fall, and hungry bears will take advantage of easy food sources like unsecured garbage, pet food, and bird seed, which can lead to more encounters with people.

FWC wildlife biologist Sarah Barrett told Action News Jax that bears go from eating about 5,000 calories a day in the summer to 20,000 in the fall. She explained that a bear can spend up to 18 hours a day foraging for acorns in the forest, or get the same calories much faster from bird feeders, trash cans, and pet food bowls in a neighborhood.

To keep bears away, the FWC recommends storing household garbage in a sturdy shed, garage, or bear-resistant container and putting it out on the morning of pickup rather than the night before. The agency also notes that it’s illegal in Florida to intentionally feed bears or leave out food or garbage that attracts them.