By admin 
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
Read our AI Policy.
- The bear entered a South Lake Tahoe cabin through an open bedroom window.
- The bear ate brioche buns, a croissant, and ribeye steaks from the cabin.
- California Fish and Wildlife advised securing trash, closing windows, and removing food.
A video shows a hungry black bear, apparently partial to fine foods, breaking into a South Lake Tahoe home earlier this month and taking multiple snacks.
Read more Boba tea shop closed due to vermin infestation. What else was found?
The security footage came from Keryn Francisco via VideoElephant, a video content provider for The Sacramento Bee, and was originally published to Storyful. Francisco told Storyful that the bear entered the “occupied vacation cabin through an open bedroom window.”
According to an Instagram post from Bay Area news station ABC7, the bear ate brioche buns, a croissant and ribeye steaks after making multiple forages into the house. He went into the refrigerator and freezer to grab the snacks.
“He even ate out on the deck,” Francisco told Storyful.
Francisco said no one was inside the cabin when the bear broke in. She called the incident “a reminder that sharing the landscape with wildlife comes with responsibilities.”
Read more Timber Fire burns more than 4,500 acres in Big Sur wilderness. See latest update
The California Fish and Wildlife Department agrees with her.
Conflicts between humans and black bears are frequently reported “in urban, rural and mountain communities through much of California,” the department said.
“As our human population expands into wildlife habitat, human-wildlife interactions have increased,” the state agency said.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife shared the following tips for dealing with food and trash in bear country:
Read more See Tahoe bear raid cabin for a luxury buffet of steak and brioche buns
- Use bear-resistant containers to secure trash, recycling, and compost.
- Pick ripe fruit off trees, bushes, and the ground as soon as possible.
- Keep doors and windows closed and locked, including car doors and windows.
- Clean barbecue grills after every use and store it in a secure shed or garage.
- Remove any unsecured trash, food and strongly-scented items including sunscreen, deodorant and Chapstick from your vehicles and yard.
- Don’t leave pet food or bird feeders outside.
To prevent conflicts with bears, residents should:
- Bring pets inside at night.
- Keep livestock in secure pens at night, and install electric fencing around chicken coops and enclosures.
- Close up access to any potential den sites, such as crawl spaces under decks. Install motion-activated lights, noisemakers or alarms.
- Install electric mats.
- Use sensory deterrents, such as ammonia in a shallow bowl.
A timestamp from the original video shows the incident happened Aug. 5, 2026.
This story was originally published August 14, 2026 at 10:34 AM.