Teen Helps Dave With Bear Trouble

Talk about stupid pet tricks: David Letterman found a bear in his cabin over the weekend, and needed help from a local teenager to get the animal to leave.

Letterman told viewers on CBS' Late Show about a bear that came into his home before dawn and started rummaging around his kitchen.

"I think to myself, 'Probably the wind,' and in Montana that's always a pretty good bet," the talk show host said 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.

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 chasing the bear around the house for a few hours, they called in Lightner — and his M-80s. They dropped the large firecrackers into a room where the bear was sleeping, chasing it out.

"If you ever are in that situation, call a high school kid," Letterman said. "Get those M-80s and your problems are over, ladies and gentlemen."

The 17-year-old works for Letterman during the summer, his parents, Kevin and Tammie Lightner, told the Great Falls Tribune.