WATCH – 250-pound black bear found napping in a Colorado window well
May 6, 2026, 4:52 PM
A 250-pound black bear that wandered into the basement window well of a home in Falcon, Colorado on Tuesday (May 5) apparently found the accommodations satisfactory. By the time Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers arrived, the bear was fast asleep.
CPW’s Southeast Region posted video and photos of the rescue to X on Tuesday afternoon, showing officers working to extract the male bear from the tight concrete space at the El Paso County home. The video, credited to homeowner Kristen Nedbalek, had drawn 59 replies within hours of being posted.
The rescue required a creative extraction plan. Officers tranquilized the bear to keep it sedated, then opened the basement window and brought the animal through it and into the home. From there, they placed the bear on a tarp and carried it up the stairs and out the front door with help from the homeowner and a neighbor.
The bear was loaded into a wildlife trailer, given a drug to reverse the tranquilizer and released into what CPW described as “appropriate bear habitat” about three hours southwest of Colorado Springs.
No injuries were reported — to the bear, the officers, the homeowner or the window well.
The incident is a reminder that bear season in Colorado is well underway. Black bears typically emerge from hibernation in April and May, and the search for food in the weeks after waking can push them into residential areas — especially in communities along the Front Range foothills and in the exurban developments east of Colorado Springs, where Falcon is located.
CPW’s message is consistent: “A fed bear is a dead bear.” Once bears become habituated to human food sources, they are far more likely to return to residential areas, which can ultimately lead to the animal being euthanized. In this case, the bear had no prior record of conflict and was a candidate for relocation rather than lethal removal.
Wildlife officers responded today to a Falcon, Colo., home to relocate a black bear that ventured into a basement window well and then fell asleep. (More)
🎥Kristen Nedbalek/Falcon pic.twitter.com/nV66VKqE9j— CPW SE Region (@CPW_SE) May 5, 2026
