Slippery Rock Township, Pennsylvania — A Lawrence County family got far closer to wildlife than they ever expected this week, after a mama black bear and her four cubs were caught on surveillance camera roaming through their yard — with one cub reportedly close enough to peer directly into a bedroom window.
Susan Zehetner had no idea anything was outside while she slept. It was only after discovering a knocked-over planter in her front yard the following morning that she checked her surveillance footage — and what she found left her stunned.
“I see mama bear coming up, and I thought, ‘oh wow, is that a baby next to her?’ And then I was like, ‘there’s another baby, oh my gosh, there’s three babies,’ and there were four babies,” Zehetner said.
The footage, recorded just after midnight Wednesday, showed the five bears moving through the property in Slippery Rock Township. One cub reportedly propped itself up near the bedroom window, close enough to look directly inside.
The incident was not the family’s first bear encounter that week. Just days earlier, Susan’s husband came face-to-face with a bear near their garage after hearing what she described as a loud snort. Fortunately, the animal fled.
Wildlife officials say his reaction was exactly right. Pennsylvania Game Commission Warden Lieutenant Andy Harvey reminds residents that black bear attacks on humans are extremely rare, but proper response matters.
“Make noise. You don’t want to run from a black bear. A black bear is very fast — it can outrun a person,” Harvey said.
With mating season currently underway across southwestern Pennsylvania, bear activity and human encounters are expected to increase in the coming weeks. Officials urge residents to remove bird feeders, secure garbage and avoid leaving food sources accessible outdoors.
The Zehetner family says they are now taking extra precautions and hope the bears stay in the woods where they belong.
“I just don’t want anybody to get hurt,” Zehetner said.
