A hungry bear in search of food broke through a large freezer on a property not far from downtown Maple Ridge Thursday morning.
Joan Hamilton heard two loud “thumps” before she found the upright freezer, as large as a full-sized refrigerator, in the middle of her driveway on 228th Street near 128th Avenue, missing food.
“It smashed it open,” said Hamilton, who has had visit from the bear for the past month.
The bear has climbed onto her deck and tried to reach for garbage secured behind wire fencing in the past.
“I watched it open a freezer and help itself to corn dogs,” said Hamilton.
Bear sightings are up across the region as the animals leave their dens in search of food.
Conservation officers are still on the hunt for a bear that has killed livestock in east Maple Ridge.
A trap set on a property off 287th Street on Monday has failed to catch it.
Mitch McCrae, whose goat Billy was killed by the bruin, said the bear came back on Tuesday and ate two rabbits.
He has since installed electric fencing around his chicken coop and moved the rabbits into a shed and garage.