Bear smashes head through kitchen wall

Early Saturday morning Lois Burke heard loud noises coming from her kitchen. Once she saw where the noise was coming from she instantly called for help.

"She called me and told me to please come down and that she needed help," said Charles Stanley, a friend and neighbor to Burke.

A bear had smelled something in Burke’s house and broke through her wall, although the bear never fully entered her house, the kitchen wall had taken a fair amount of damage. The bear was scared off before doing any more damage to the house.

"I went into the house and got my gun and I walked about a quarter mile to her house and by that time I got within about 20 feet of her house and I shot about 3-4 times,” said Stanley.

Burke said she scared off the bear by banging various pots together.

Jenkins Police Chief James Stephens said that this is not his first time dealing with bears, but it was the first time he had seen a bear break through a wall.

"In this instance when I got there the lady stated that the bear had actually come through her wall right above her kitchen stove," said Stephens.

He mentioned that it is a growing problem in the area, but for people to remember that we are sharing the area with the bears.

"This is the bear’s home we are actually encroaching on their home, so people get upset and say ‘Why can't they do something with these bears,’ well we're doing what we can but we have to remember this was their home first," said Stephens.