WATCH – Bear climbs out of garbage truck in Castle Rock

The wildlife in Castle Rock are on a roll. First it was the squirrels knocking out the power grid two days in a row. Now it’s a bear hitching a ride on a Waste Management truck.

Wednesday, a black bear was spotted climbing out of the top of a garbage truck near a transportation lot in Castle Rock where school buses are kept. Colorado Springs resident Scott Gillespie, who’s worked in Castle Rock for nearly a decade, pulled out his phone and caught the whole thing on video. “I actually saw the paws of the bear and the head sticking out from the inside of the truck looking around,” Gillespie told FOX31. Castle Rock resident Evan Elmore told CBS Colorado that the bear had likely climbed inside a trash container that was then picked up and emptied into the back of the truck, meaning the bear got a free ride through town before popping out like the world’s worst jack-in-the-box. Gillespie agrees: “I’m pretty sure the bear was already in there when the trash truck pulled up. So I’m thinking they probably picked up a dumpster and dumped him in the back of the truck and he climbed out right in front of me.”

Gillespie’s dog, Leia, was in the car with him and had the most relatable reaction possible. “She did the smallest, tiniest little growl you’ve ever heard because she was like I want to acknowledge that I see this thing but I don’t want to do anything about it,” Gillespie said. Same, Leia. The bear eventually climbed down the side of the truck, and Waste Management employees scared it off. Gillespie said the bear ran past a couple of people standing by their cars in the parking lot and, thankfully, didn’t go into the nutrition services building right next to the lot, which he described as essentially a full warehouse of food. “He ran past a couple of people just standing by their cars in the parking lot which was interesting but luckily did not go into the jackpot of food that was behind those doors,” he said.

The timing is no coincidence. Bears across Colorado are deep into hyperphagia right now, the pre-hibernation eating frenzy where they can consume up to 20,000 calories a day. CBS Colorado reports that the state’s prolonged drought and late frost have wiped out many of their usual food sources, pushing them further into populated areas to scavenge. Castle Rock has been ground zero for bear activity this summer. In June, a bear scaled a fence into the Castle Rock Police Department parking lot. Earlier this month, a bear was caught on a Ring camera checking trash bins in The Meadows neighborhood. And now one’s riding shotgun in a garbage truck. At this rate, they’ll be filing for residency by October.