Dad survives mauling by 450-POUND bear that wandered into family’s kitchen
A COLORADO dad survived a vicious pummeling by 450-pound bear that was wandering around the kitchen this week.
On Friday, Dave Chernosky, 54, miraculously lived after coming across the enormous animal checking out the contents of his fridge.
"So I went to the kitchen, saw the bear there. He was already in the fridge and cupboards and stuff like that.
"My kids were in the basement, so I wanted to make sure he stayed upstairs."
"As soon as we looked at each other, he just smacked me with his paw one time.
"And after I got out of the way and started yelling, he left," said the dad who suffered cuts to his face and neck.
He dialed 911, telling the dispatcher "a bear came in here and he hit me with his paw so I'm bleeding."
Officers caught the bear near the scene of the attack using trained dogs to sniff her out.
"Every year, bears that become too comfortable around people have to be destroyed.
"Every time we’re forced to destroy a bear, it’s not just the bear that loses. We all lose a little piece of the wildness that makes Colorado so special."
Bears have to eat 20,000 calories a day to prep themselves for the lean winter season, which is a late summer or early fall feeding frenzy known as "hyperphagia."
There have been 1,809 bear reports in Colorado and 1,323 of these have come in since June 1, according to CPW records cited by .
But the last fatal bear attack on a human there was over a decade ago in 2009.