Classes at an Aspen middle school were temporarily suspended Monday after a black bear cub followed its nose into the cafeteria.
“While some kids are tough to get out of bed and going on Monday mornings, that was not the case for this little bear,” Pitkin County sheriff’s officials said in a post on Facebook.
Early Monday morning, a black bear cub found its way into the Aspen School District middle school and sniffed its way to the school’s cafeteria, sheriff’s officials said.
All students were sent to other buildings on campus while Pitkin County deputies and officers from the Aspen Police Department and Colorado Parks and Wildlife helped remove the cub from the school and safely relocate it, according to the post.
Sheriff’s officials said all students were back in class by 9:30 a.m. Monday.
“Please remember to secure all doors and windows overnight or when you are not home, as local bears are in the midst of preparing for their upcoming winter hibernation,” sheriff’s officials said on Facebook.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, bears enter a period of compulsive overeating called hyperphagia in the fall to prepare for winter. They start feeding for 22 hours a day and need to consume 20,000 calories a day to survive hibernation.
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“Bears are very smart and have great memories — once they find food near homes, campgrounds, vehicles or communities, they’ll come back for more,” CPW officers said.
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