Burglar Bear Suspected in 50 Break-Ins

'Bubba' so big, bullets bounce off his head
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 16, 2010 1:25 PM CDT
Burglar Bear Suspected in 50 Break-Ins
A black bear grabs a drink out of the trash near South Lake Tahoe, Calif in this 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Chad Lundquist)

There’s a 700-pound unstoppable burglar on the loose in Nevada, and he is out for honey. Or maybe pie. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is on the hunt for “Bubba,” a gigantic, nearly legendary black bear who has broken into at least 50 homes and caused $70,000 in property damage, the Wall Street Journal reports. His MO is consistent: He always breaks in by punching through the garage door, and tends to leave basketball-sized dumps inside as a calling card.

Forced down from the mountains by harsh recent winters, Bubba is twice the size of a normal black bear, and he’s proven exceedingly elusive. One homeowner claims to have shot him, only to see the bullet bounce off his enormous skull, injuring, but not killing him. The Wildlife Department has begun a concerted hunt, with one official patrolling nightly, armed with a fire extinguisher, pepper spray, and two dogs that can only be commanded in Russian. But some want the bear spared. After Bubba broke into a local church, the reverend pleaded for him to be relocated, not killed. “I just wanted to be Christian about it,” he said. (More bear stories.)

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