A bear broke into a Colorado bakery at night and helped himself to 24 pies and a couple more to go – but turned his nose up at the strawberry rhubarb variety

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

A bear with a sweet tooth broke into a Colorado bakery, ate 24 pies – and then took two to go.

But he left the strawberry rhubarb one, the daughter of the owner of the Colorado Cherry Company told the Guardian.

The bear broke into the store, located in the city of Lyons, through a window and climbed on top of the oven before eating “about two dozen pies, bags of cocoa, and a bag of sugar”, according to Mikaela Lehnert, the owner’s daughter.

“He went for the apple and the cherry and left behind the strawberry rhubarb so he was a picky little guy,” Lehnert said.

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During his late-night feast, he avoided being caught on tape as the surveillance cameras inside the pie shop are pointed away from the room he invaded and towards the freezer – home to many more pies – which he left untouched. He avoided that area and left through the window he entered.

The morning following the break-in, Lehnert and her mother found the mess he left behind and two pie boxes in the yard.

Despite the mess, the damage was minimal, aside from the broken window. The owners have boarded it up but Lehnert said they plan on putting new windows in as soon as possible. She worries the bear might have enjoyed the pies so much that they will now have a repeat customer.

“We have a feeling he knows it’s here so he’s going to come back,” she said.

According to Lehnert, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. They had a bear break in to their other location in Loveland, Colorado, and snack on some pies. The damage from that break-in was more extensive as he broke not only a window but the main doors and the freezer during his mission for sweets. Bears have also gone through their garbage in the past so they’ve had electrical fences installed.

But this particular heist was “kind of creative” compared to the rest.

“If anything it’s boosted [our business] because it put our pies and product out there,” Lehnert said.

She and her mother may have to leave a pie out to thank their visitor for his services. But not a strawberry rhubarb, of course.