Bear Crashes Birthday Party in West Hartford

WEST HARTFORD, CT — A local family has made the rounds in cyberspace and in the news media recently after an uninvited guest showed up at their son's 2nd birthday party earlier this month.

By day, West Hartford resident Rauf Majidian is a licensed mortgage professional who hails from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, according to his Facebook page.

But on Sep. 4, he doubled as a wildlife photographer as he captured shocking footage of a black bear helping itself to some cupcakes outside he and his family's West Hartford home.

The video was posted on that day, but over the weekend, it went viral and he and his family was even interviewed on CNN's HLN network nationally, in addition to the footage being played all over local television stations.

According to Majidian's Sept. 4 Facebook entry, there was even an appropriate tie-in to the bear's appearance.

"I was playing a Disney playlist in the background and as ‘Bear Necessities’ was playing, an actual bear showed up to the party and ate more than his portion of the cupcakes," wrote Majidian.

"Luckily it was towards the end of the party and we all went away unharmed, but not without our fair share of yelling and escaping."

According to WTNH Channel 8, the bear didn't appear aggressive, but the family swiftly rushed everyone into the house when the creature slowly made its presence known.

The footage that has gone viral was taken from inside the home through a window.

Bears have been a common site this year in the area, with another West Hartford family making headlines for a bear, actually, breaking into a home.

Then in Simsbury, a mother bear and multiple cubs were lured out of a catch basin in a daylong operation that made headlines a few days later.

Over the years, reports of bears mixing with the public are becoming more and more common as development has entrenched on bear habitats.

The state Department of Environmental Protection, even, has a page on its website dedicated to what you should do if you see one of these creatures.

For the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection bear information page, click on this link.

• For the full WVIT Channel 8 report, click on this link.
• For the CNN HLN Network interview, click on this link.

• From Aug. 1: 'WATCH: Bear In West Hartford Makes Itself At Home'
• From Aug. 4: 'Bears Rescued From Simsbury Sewer'