A bear measuring about 90 centimeters from head to tail was found in the living room of a house belonging to a man in his 60s in Kitakata, Fukushima Prefecture, on Monday evening, local police said.

The bear had its head inside a kotatsu, a table with a blanket attached and heater underneath, when the man returned home at 6:30 p.m. and discovered it eating food on the table. He escaped unharmed to a neighboring house and the police restricted access to the area.

The incident took place in a mountainous village where snow has piled up. The police urged nearby residents to lock their doors.

At around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the bear was still in the house, so police used loud fire crackers to scare it out. The bear left the house and entered a shed about 20 meters away. It was captured at around 3:30 p.m. after being anesthetized with a dart and then released in the mountains.