In the summer, all kinds of folks visit local hotels in Breckenridge. Hikers, sightseers, mountain bikers—you name it. If they’re into the outdoors and the mountains, you’ll probably see them at Breck.
As evidenced by a recent report from local police, though, those visitors aren’t always human.
In the early hours of Tuesday, August 11, an unexpected guest checked into the Grand Timber Lodge, a hotel perched near Breckenridge’s Snowflake lift.
Said guest was a bear. And they wanted M&Ms, apparently.
In body camera footage shared by the Town of Breckenridge Police Department, an officer can be seen trying to startle the bear with the noise of a taser.
Later, the officer follows an employee into a back area where the bear rifled around, saying, “It smells like wet dog now.”
The employee then shows the officer the snack storage where the bear had indulged in some chocolate.
“I guess he really liked the M&Ms,” the officer said.
The Breckenridge Police Department took the incident, which ended up being lighthearted—no one, including the bear, was hurt—to remind visitors and locals that bears are active in the area.
“Please stay alert, secure food and trash, and never approach or feed a bear,” the department wrote in a social media post.
Black bears, Breckenridge’s local bear contingent, are considered less dangerous than their counterparts, grizzlies.
Still, they should be treated with caution.
The Town of Breckenridge provided some additional tips if you run into a black bear.
First, “Stand still, stay calm and let the bear identify you and leave. Talk in a normal tone of voice. Be sure the bear has an escape route.”
The post also said that if you see cubs, the mother’s likely nearby, so you leave the area immediately.
In cases where the bear approaches, you should yell or throw small rocks in the direction of the bear, and be prepared to use bear spray, which should be fired when a bear is about 40 feet away.
And in the rare event that the bear attacks, don’t play dead, the post said, “Fight back with anything available. People have successfully defended themselves with pen knives, trekking poles, and even bare hands.”
For more bear safety tips from Breckenridge, click here.
