LAS VEGAS, N.M. (KRQE) – A big bear right in the middle of a New Mexico man’s trailer. That’s what Game and Fish officers were called out to in mid July after a 64-year-old man shot and killed the black bear that he says woke him up after breaking into his house.
Calvin Stoddard says he was sleeping in his trailer near Hermit’s Peak, northwest of Las Vegas, when around 11 p.m. he heard the bear rummaging around inside.
Stoddard told Game and Fish, the bear came in through the screen door of his 28-foot-trailer and was just three feet away from his face.
An avid hunter and former hounds man, Stoddard says once he saw the bear he grabbed his rifle at the foot of his bed. And says without hesitation, he pulled the trigger.
The close call has game and fish reminding people to stay “bear aware” this time of year, “We do see a lot more bears coming into town during when they come out of hibernation. And if there’s a drier area in parts of New Mexico, we’ll see them try to find water sources and food, ” said Wheeler Brunschmid, Associate Chief of Information, New Mexico Game and Fish.
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