There was a surprise guest for two-year-old Cyrus’ Birthday party on Sept. 4 in West Hartford.
A black bear came onto the family's property and made its way to the picnic table. First, sniffing a party guest and then helping itself to cupcakes, bagels, and even some lox.
“I couldn’t believe it for 30 seconds. We see it happening, we see the person who got sniffed by the bear, screaming and panicking,” Rauf Majidian said.
One family member captured the moment on video.
Get Connecticut local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Connecticut newsletters.
“Bear! He looks kind of old, oh my god, let's get everybody in the house, let's get everybody in the house,” said the family member.
The Majidian said ironically at the same time the song "Bear Necessities" by Disney’s The Jungle Book was playing in the background.
Local
They had about 30 guests over, including 10 to 12 children, when the bear stopped by. They quickly worked to get everyone indoors.
“Basically, scoping up children, grabbing as many as kids as we could, went in the garage until we knew the bear was at least fully occupied with the food,” Laura Majidian said.
Laura said this isn’t the first time she has spotted a bear in her neighborhood. On occasion, one will pass through in the morning and go out the backyard, but never has a bear come on their property in the middle of a get together.
“I’m also very afraid of bears. I have been for a long time, we had never been outside while the bear was here,” Laura said.
On that Sunday, there was more than one sighting. While Laura was in her car honking her horn at the bear to leave, she saw a second one.
“That was on the other side of the street, it wasn’t on our property yet and that bear ran away. But this bear was unfazed,” Laura said.
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) offers tips on what to do if a bear comes into your yard. Those steps can be found here.
