17-year-old wakes up to bear standing inside her bedroom after leaving window open, but his blanket ended up saving the day

A 17-year-old girl in Colorado recently survived a terrifying encounter after a bear reportedly crawled through her bedroom window, and it turns out her choice to hide under her blankets might have actually saved her from serious injury. This incident occurred in Durango, Colorado, where the teen had left her window open before heading to sleep.

As reported by BroBible, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the animal tore through the window screen and made its way inside the house. The girl reportedly immediately pulled her blankets up to hide as she watched the bear enter her room. The situation escalated when the bear walked over to her bedside table and began to sniff the girl’s head right through the covers.

When the girl made a noise, the bear made a huffing sound and swiped at her. She felt the bear’s paw hit her stomach while she was still under the blankets. She started screaming, which caused the bear to retreat to the foot of her bed before it climbed back out through the window. The bear actually returned for a second time, but it finally left for good after the girl continued her verbal assault.

The bear left three scratch marks on her stomach 

Officials who examined the teenager later documented “three scratch marks the bear left on her stomach” along with bruising in the area. The District Manager emphasized that “the woman is very lucky she had multiple blankets covering her when the bear swiped her.”

This encounter happened during a particularly active time for bears in the state. We are currently in what is known as Hyperphagia Season. During these months, bears are desperate to pack on as many pounds as possible before they settle in for hibernation when the cold weather arrives. Because of this, they are much more daring and aggressive than usual while they hunt for food.

Colorado is reportedly home to an estimated 20,000 black bears, and data shows there has been a significant increase in reports involving residential foraging, home invasions, and attacks compared to 2025. Another residence in the same area was infiltrated by a bear on Monday. While officials are not sure if it was the same animal, they have deployed traps in the area to capture the culprit.