Letterman's Cabin Raided
Sep 24, 8:57 AM EST
GREAT FALLS (AP) -- Talk show host David Letterman found a bear in his Montana, cabin over the weekend, and called on the help of a local teenager when the bear refused to leave.
Letterman told viewers of his Late Show about a bear that came into his home before the crack of dawn and started rummaging around his kitchen.
"I think to myself, 'probably the wind,' and in Montana that's always a pretty good bet," Letterman told his viewers Monday night.
Letterman continued to sleep, thinking maybe someone was fixing him breakfast. After about an hour he decided to investigate.
"And there, standing in my kitchen, is the largest bear I've ever seen in my entire life," he said. "... I don't know how big, but he was the hugest bear I've ever seen in my kitchen ... So I closed the door."
That's when Letterman turned to some locals, including the hero of the story, Brandon Lightner, a senior at Choteau High School.
Letterman called his friend and ranch manager Chip Kearns, of Choteau, who "knows everything and runs everything and is a Marine and he's the guy you want to call when you've got a bear in your kitchen."
After helping Letterman chase the bear around the house for a few hours, they decided to call in Lightner — and his M-80s. They dropped the large firecrackers into a room the bear was sleeping in, chasing it out.
"If you ever are in that situation, call a high school kid," Letterman told his viewers. "Get those M-80s and your problems are over, ladies and gentlemen."
Lightner, 17, works for Letterman during the summer, according to his parents, Kevin and Tammie Lightner.
"I got a charge out of it," Kevin Lightner said of Letterman's TV segment on the episode. "It was pretty unique to have my son's name mentioned on TV. It was an awful funny story anyway."
He told the Great Falls Tribune that his son is strict about Letterman's privacy policy and could not speak about the incident.
