A Morris County homeowner got an up close look at a bear when the hungry animal walked onto her porch and swiped a pumpkin. The encounter was captured on a cell phone by Kelly Stephens, who screamed when she first saw the bear outside her window.

She told CBS 2 New York, “I guess my screaming scared him off, so I ran to get my phone and then when I came back, he slowly proceeded to come back to capture the pumpkin.” She had thought it was squirrels that had been messing with her vegetation, so she was rather surprised to see the bear lumbering away with her pumpkin.

You can see the bear in the video drop the pumpkin and it rolls away, but he regains control and scampers off for his meal.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of bear sightings and bear-human interactions this year; as reported on NorthJersey.com, through August, the state DEP had recorded 671 complaints, a 66% increase from 2019. Hunters have made the case that the increase is due to hunting being prohibited on state land, but some people believe that the pandemic has resulted in more people being home to see the bears that are normally there, anyway.

While bear attacks are rare, an 82 year old Milford man was attacked by a bear in his garage in July, resulting in 30 stitches. The bear was captured and euthanized. This year’s state bear hunt, which Governor Murphy has vowed will be the last during his time in office, began this week.

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