Bear visits home, has snack and takes toy before leaving

Laconia - A black bear in a New Hampshire community decided to visit one family's home. It walked into a kitchen, ate some fruit and took a stuffed bear when it left.

WMUR News reported that Mary Beth Parkinson, who lives in the house, said that the incident taught her two sons, aged six and nine, an important lesson about leaving the outside door open. The bear had entered through an open door. It went to the kitchen, ate two pears and a bunch of grapes, and had a drink from the fishbowl. She thought that when the garage door went up it might have startled the bear enough to cause it to leave the house, but on its way out the animal grabbed a stuffed bear. The toy was found in the back yard. When Parkinson entered her kitchen one fish was still in the bowl and one was flopping around on the counter. The boys made sure the doors were locked before they went to bed that night. A few days earlier, another resident of the area video taped a black bear in the neighbourhood. Others reported seeing a bear.