Scent of cinnamon buns brings bear and baker face to face at Saskatchewan national park

A bear and a baker came face to face when the wild animal tried to break into a Saskatchewan bakery, drawn bythe wafting scent of cinnamon buns on the weekend.

Dave Archer said his brother Les had just pulled a tray of his family's popularcinnamon buns out of the oven when he heard banging at the bakery door.

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Les thought it was his mom, Linda, arriving to work at the Waskesiu Lake business.

"He went over and looked, and here this bear's trying to open the door and come in," said Archer.

"Anyway, he shooed him off with a stick, and threw a couple things at him and got him to run across the street."

Archer thinks it could have been the sweet scent of cinnamon buns that brought the bear calling that morning.

Bear also stole macaroni salad

It wasn't the animal's first visit to the Waskesiu Trading Company store and bakery, which is located at apopular holiday spot about 230 kilometres north of Saskatoon in the Prince Albert National Park.

Earlier last week, the bear broke into the store's cooler and filled its belly with macaroni salad.

"So we rigged up basically a board that was screwed across the door so he couldn't pry it open," said Archer.

"The next night he came back and tried to peel the door open, and he ripped the metal off and some wood but couldn't get it open, so he didn't get in."

But the next day the bearcame back again, this time trying the back door and finding itself face to facewith Les Archer.

1stbear break-in at store

Dave Archer said it was not the first time the family hadseen bears at their store, but this one appearedmore determined to get inside.

"We've had bears at the back door almost annually, I suppose, where you'll have a quick sighting or one gazing in the back door at you, but we've never ever had one get in," said Archer.

He said his family had contacted conservation officers about the bear. He is not sure if it has been removed from the area but saidit has not been back for two days.

Archer suspects it could have been scared away by the big crowds at the lake for the Canada Day long weekend.

He said the family would be even more careful not to attract bears in the future, addingthat it was difficult to prevent the smell of sweet treatsescaping the bakery.

"I imagine that was what kept bringing him back," said Archer.

CBC News has reached out to conservation officers for more information about the response to the bear's presence at Waskesiu Lake, but there's been no immediate reply.