Blake Scott was moving water on his family’s property in Gypsum on the evening of Monday, June 10, when he heard his mother screaming. His mother had been painting the family’s barn and entered the building’s garage to get another bucket of green paint. As she leaned down to pick up the bucket, she came face to face with a bear.
As the family soon learned, this was not just any bear. It was the bear frequently spotted in Vail last summer, which broke into at least one home before seemingly disappearing in late July. The bear was identifiable by the number on its red ear tags: 935.
As his mother retreated upstairs, Blake Scott ran to the house for his 9-mm handgun, then headed straight to the garage. At this point, he had no idea what had frightened his mother.
Still, he entered the garage. No sign of the intruder. He went around the back of the building, near the family’s chicken coop. Again, he saw nothing. He circled back around to the front of the building and was able to communicate with his mother, who told him that she had seen a bear.
