An Connecticut bakery said that its employees were safe but the cupcakes were not when a bear confronted an employee of the sweet shop and chowed down on 60 of its cupcakes.
Taste by Spellbound, a retail coffee and bakery shop that serves a variety of cupcakes, with flavors ranging from berry spring floral — not to be confused with bear spring floral — and oreo milkshake, has shops in Avon, South Windsor and West Hartford.
The opening of the bakery’s South Windsor shop was delayed on Wednesday morning after the bear charged a worker at the Avon bakery, destroying 60 cupcakes and a bunch of coconut cake.
Owner Miriam Taylor said that the shop has a loading garage in the back of the Avon shop. An employee named Maureen was loading the transit van when she looked up and saw a bear.
“All the sudden we hear her screaming bloody murder and then yelling ‘There’s a bear in the garage!,’” Taylor told the Courant.
The employee ran for her life to get away from the bear, Taylor said.
“She ran into the kitchen as fast as she could and slammed the door that goes into the loading area and held it tight,” Taylor said.
The bear allegedly moved one of the bakery’s refrigerators in front of the door as stunned workers called 911 for help, the owner said.
“Never did I think I’d say this but we had a bear come into our bakery and charge one of our ladies,” Taste by Spellbound said in a statement on Facebook.
The bakery posted on Instagram that they had to re-bake their cupcakes for the Avon shop and bring products from another shop to their South Windsor bakery due to the incident. The bakery owner posted a photo of half-eaten cupcakes spilled on the ground.
As employees were hiding inside, one worker decided to drive their vehicle around to the back of the shop and beep her horn at the bear until he left, Taylor said.
The cupcakes were on the seat of a transport vehicle when the bear made a so-called “bluff charge” at a worker as she tried to close the door, NBC Connecticut reported.
According to the National Park Service, a bluff charge is meant to scare or intimidate.
When a bear bluff charges, it will have its head and ears up and forward and will puff up to make itself look bigger
The National Park Service recommends that if you encounter a bear who is showing signs of bluff charging, it is best to slowly back away while waving your arms above your head and speak to the bear in a calm voice.
When the bear does charge, the NPS recommends you “hold your ground and stay calm.”
The park service warns against running during a bluff charge, cautioning that running away may trigger a bear attack.
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