Most people wait until Halloween to stuff themselves with candy. But one black bear in Alaska decided Oct. 12 was close enough.
And instead of going door-to-door like a civilized trick-or-treater, this guy just helped himself to whatever he could find.
The unexpected visitor showed up around 2 a.m. Monday at a hospital on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska. According to Alaska’s News Source, the bear made his way through the hospital’s emergency department before discovering a bucket of donated Halloween candy and proceeding to chow down.
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Probably even ate the candy corn. Gross.
A black bear mother relaxes on a boulder. (Chris Mathein / Getty Images)
A woman named Sherri Warnke — who was leaving the hospital after visiting her mother — spotted the massive animal about 30 feet away in a dimly lit hallway. To make things spookier, Warnke didn’t have a hospital badge, meaning all the doors along the corridor were locked to her.
So there she was, trapped in a hallway with a hungry black bear.
Warnke slowly backed away, hoping the bear hadn’t noticed her. Fortunately, that’s when our furry friend discovered the candy bucket and apparently decided chocolate was better than human.
A sign marks the entrance to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 13, 2025. (Mark Thiessen/AP)
Eventually, an announcement came over the hospital intercom warning everyone that there was a bear in the building. But that didn’t stop some doctors from coming out to take pictures.
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Warnke made it out safely, and the bear reportedly exited through the same entrance he’d used to get inside. Nobody was injured.
Hospital staff later showed Warnke a surveillance photo of the bear standing at the emergency department reception desk, where they joked that he appeared to be checking in.
A black bear stands in the wild, captured in its natural habitat. (Getty Images Creatives)
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Of course, with winter approaching, bears are busy packing on the pounds before hibernation. Most bears are out there catching salmon, digging through dumpsters and scavenging for berries. But this guy figured out where they keep the good stuff.
He could have at least put on a costume, though.
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