ASPEN, Colo. (AP) -- An Aspen restaurant owner found a way to keep bears from breaking into his outside walk-in freezer: an electrified mat gives them a mild shock if they try to open the door.
Bill Dinsmoor says he's had no bear trouble since he installed the mat at his Main Street Bakery & Cafe. Before, bears broke into the freezer four or five times.
Dinsmoor says the shock isn't strong enough to hurt the bears, and humans won't get a jolt unless they're barefoot.
He says the Division of Wildlife loaned him a mat as an experiment. When agents took it to use elsewhere, he bought his own.
Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton says electric fences and mats can deter bears but they don't work in every situation.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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