Vt. governor scares off bears while bare

• Tweet

MONTPELIER, Vt., April 13 (UPI) -- Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin said Friday he was bare when he scared off four bears raiding the bird feeders outside his Montpelier home on a recent night.

Shumlin said he had retired for the evening Wednesday au natural -- "Real Vermont boys don't wear pajamas," he told WDEV Radio in Waterbury -- when he heard a noise outside. He got up and saw what appeared to be two adult bears and two cubs going after the bird feeders on a porch about 10 feet away from his bedroom window.

Shumlin said he "used my strongest Vermonter" voice to shoo the bears away and then went out to bring the feeders inside, the Burlington Free Press reported.

The 56-year-old governor said he started to bring two feeders inside when the bears returned. He again yelled at them and they ran to the edge of the yard.

Shumlin said when he returned to get the other two feeders, the bruins appeared upset to lose their meal and the largest one game running back.

"He just booked it for the porch," said Shumlin, who beat a hasty retreat to the door.

"When I opened the door, he was on the porch and 5 feet from the door," Shumlin said. "I screamed through that door. I didn't know if the bear was coming through."

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Chief Warden David LeCours said the four bears might have actually been three cubs and a sow that might have been aggressive because it perceived the governor as a threat to her cubs.