This KFC endorsement practically writes itself.
A California man got a closer wildlife encounter than expected after returning home to find a bear devouring his bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken’s legendary secret “11 herbs & spices” recipe.
A video of the pawn-licking-good incident is currently blowing up online.
“They sure made a mess of the place,” John Holden told his local ABC outlet of the bizarre break-in, which occurred Oct. 28 at his house in Sierra Madre. The homeowner had reportedly returned to the house to discover that the front door was wide open, and a big burly bear was on his counter, wolfing down a bucket of KFC fried chicken, Storyful reported.
In the resultant footage, the brazen bruin can be seen with its face buried in the fast food carton amid a trash-strewn kitchen area. The cameraman intermittently ducks behind the wall, presumably so Winnie the Moocher wouldn’t see him.
Holden reported that there was least one more animal in his dwelling and another outside like a reverse “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” scenario. Fortunately, the besieged man was eventually able to shoo the chicken thieves out of the house by making loud noises.
Despite reportedly having run-ins with bears before, this is the first time they’d ever broken into Holden’s house.
“I’ve had a lot of other encounters with them,” he said. “I’ve actually had them bump into me a couple times in the backyard, but definitely never in the house like that.”
In a similar incident this past August, a black bear was filmed calmly strolling down the aisles of a California grocery store. That same month, another four-legged scene stealer was caught on cam swiping someone’s Amazon delivery.
Meanwhile, bears have become bona fide — albeit infamous — social media stars after a string of viral incidents of late: One “foolish” woman got jail time for playing around with a massive mama grizzly at Yellowstone National Park in October, and four-time “Fat Bear Week” winner Otis made headlines when he reclaimed his title earlier that month.
Of course, most of these viral incidents don’t result in cutesy “bear hugs,” backyard puppy play or calm daddy lectures — in fact, most end in near-tragedy or death: In the past months alone, a bicyclist managed to fight off a bear that mauled him in Alaska, a boxer is in “grave condition” after challenging one to a misguided bout and a woman was killed by a 400-pounder while camping in Montana.