Bear breaks into Pennsylvania retirement home, nurses take action: "I grabbed a walker and was hitting him"
Nursing homes are used to having visitors, but a retirement community in western Pennsylvania had a rather unbearable guest on Tuesday night. Presbyterian Senior Living, which runs St. Andrew's Village in Indiana, Pennsylvania, said a juvenile male black bear broke through a window a little after 11 p.m.
Officials said he was looking for food, but what he found was Charlene Elliot and a few other St. Andrew's nurses.
Nurses confront bear
"I grabbed a walker and was hitting him, trying to get him away from the residents," Elliot said. "Cause my thought was he was going to, from quick reaction from them, he's going to maul them or swipe, slap at them. That was my worst fear."
Elliot said that some nurses tried to lure the bear out of rooms with things like Rice Krispies treats, but she said it took her and her team basically wrangling the bear and pushing it out of the door to get it to go.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission later came and set up a bear trap. Early Wednesday morning, they were able to humanely catch and relocate the 150-pound yearling.
"I feel I went above and beyond for my residents and that's the way I feel. I would put my life on the line for them, and pretty much I did," Elliot said.
Elliot said that nothing like this has ever happened to her before, but no doubt residents are happy that she acted quickly and was smarter than the average bear.
"We are incredibly proud of our team's quick thinking and dedication to ensuring the safety of everyone in our community. To prevent future wildlife encounters, the game warden safely relocated the bear to a more suitable habitat today and all bird feeders on our campus were removed," Presbyterian Senior Living said in a news release.
Black bears in Pennsylvania
According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission, there are about 18,000 black bears in the state, and while they're usually afraid of humans, some that live close by can become habituated. If there are food sources like bird feeders or garbage cans, bears that are used to people can be drawn to backyards.
The Game Commission says Pennsylvania's black bears are rather non-confrontational, and attacks are rare. Most of the time, black bears are just looking for an easy meal.
While there's no real playbook for a bear breaking into a nursing home, the Game Commission says if you do find yourself in a situation like this, always protect yourself and always try to make sure there is an open door for the animal to go out.
