By Shannon Lukens. WARNING: Some pictures are graphic. All pictures are courtesy Ken Mauldin.
A bear entered a home in Steamboat at 2 a.m. Saturday. Kelly Mauldin heard her dogs barking and got up to investigate and discovered the 300-400 male bear in her house. She screamed for her husband, Ken, who got up and shot and killed the bear.
“When I went to my bedroom door, I saw the bear about 10 feet away and shot it instantly with a 40-caliber, semi-automatic handgun. Then the bear charged me. I continued shooting at it as fast as I could. The bullet hole in the floor suggested the bear got about five to six feet from me when he backed up, changed directions, and crashed through the bannister railing onto the stairs, where he collapsed at the bottom of the stairs.”
Rachael Gonzales with Colorado Parks and Wildlife says “given the facts of this incident, the homeowner was within his legal rights.” She wants to remind everyone that all ground level windows and doors should always be locked.
“This is a great reminder to lock your front doors, back doors, close the garage doors if you’re not inside your garage doing stuff actively. But especially those ground level windows and front doors, making sure they are closed and locked all day long and overnight. It’s easy access for bears to get into so we want to eliminate that easy access, especially when bears when we get closer to when bears are going to start eating more calories to fatten up for hibernation. Also, eliminating the attractants like trash. Make sure trash is in bear proof trash cans and closed. And remove bird feeders as well. So eliminating attractants and keeping those doors and windows locked that are easy access are going to be the key to preventing incidents like this.”
It was a lever handle that the bear used to get into an unlocked door at the house. Mauldin says the bear had been a frequent visitor to houses in the neighborhood, which was near CMC in the Hill Streets area.
Gonzales also says don’t have trash cans out and remove all bird feeders right now.
