Bear steals borsch from porch of Irkutsk cottagers

On the night of Oct. 5, a bear climbed into a cottage house in the city of Ust-Ilimsk in Irkutsk Region. According to the regional police, the animal's catch was a pot of borsch left on the porch.

On the night of Oct. 5, a bear climbed into a cottage house in the city of Ust-Ilimsk in Irkutsk Region. According to the regional police, the animal's catch was a pot of borsch left on the porch.

It was the police who were able to chase the bear away. The owners of the house called the police and afterward went to hide in their Russian sauna. The incident report states that the bear was scared off by a gunshot fired into the air and ran away. No one was injured.

According to the cottage owners, they left their pot of borsch on the porch to cool down and went down to their sauna to get ready for bed, where there currently sleep while their main house is being built.

They were later awakened by a strange sound and found that a bear was breaking the windows in their house. When the police arrived, the bear had already finished eating his borsch, which should have still been hot, the owners assure.

In order to avoid such incidents, the police recommend that city-dwellers be extremely careful at night and not leave food out that might be accessible to animals.

This is not the first time a bear has appeared on someone’s porch in Ust-Ilimsk: They have a tendency to go wandering to people's cottages looking for food. However, no one has ever been attacked by these wandering foragers. Besides Ust-Ilimsk, other cities in the region have suffered from the scavenging of hungry animals. In 2012, a special patrol force was formed in order to protect people from such incidents.

First published in Russian in Lenta.ru.

All rights reserved by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

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